Poll: Majority of Americans Favor Spending Cuts in Debt Ceiling Deal.

Tim PearceMay 25, 2023

Most Americans Want Spending Cuts Alongside Debt Ceiling Increase

According to a recent survey, most Americans favor cutting spending alongside raising the debt ceiling as President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) negotiate a deal to avert a U.S. default.

A new CNN poll conducted by SSRS and released on Tuesday says 60% of Americans want to see cuts to federal spending in a deal to raise the debt ceiling. The White House and the House GOP are just more than a week away from June 1, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the U.S. could be unable to pay its bills.

Biden Reluctantly Enters Negotiations with McCarthy

Biden entered negotiations with McCarthy reluctantly, saying for weeks that the White House would negotiate on the budget but not the debt ceiling. The president and Democrats broadly called for a clean debt ceiling raise even after the House passed a bill that would raise the debt ceiling while cutting discretionary spending and limit spending increases for the next decade.

Biden has stepped back from that hardline position, though negotiations over the debt ceiling appear to be frosty. McCarthy’s negotiators returned to the negotiating table on Wednesday as the two sides try to break an impasse.

“There are a number of places where we are still far apart. I mean, it didn’t seem like it would be this hard,” McCarthy said on Wednesday morning.

“We have more revenue coming into our coffers than at any time in American history. The problem is, the Democrats have been in power and they increased the amount of spending to the highest level we’ve ever had at any time in American history, especially to GDP. And now we have the highest debt than at any time during American history,” he continued. “I just think its common sense, it’s reasonable, and it’s rational that we spend less next year than we spent this year. Every household would do this.”

Biden’s negotiations have been causing some fractures among Democrats in the House who want the president to come back to his previous non-negotiable position. Members of the Progressive Caucus are warning the president against signing a “bad deal” with Republicans.

“The president — I’m sure he’s thinking about the fact that it was a very vibrant, diverse coalition that put them in the White House, and he’s going to need that vibrant, diverse coalition again for 2024,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), the Progressive Caucus chair, according to NBC News. She said the president should fear “the impact of taking a bad deal and allowing Republicans to put forward these absolutely unreasonable positions.”