Dems blame GOP for debt limit deadlock, demand accountability.

With debt limit talks running down to the wire in Washington, the finger-pointing continued May 23 on Capitol Hill as to who will be responsible if the United States defaults on its debt for the first time in history.

For House Democrats, the answer is an “extreme” faction of House Republicans.

“Speaker Kevin McCarthy is beholden to the most extreme members of his conference,” House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.) told reporters at a news conference. “Last week, we saw proof of that.”

Aguilar noted that Republicans briefly paused negotiations late last week after the House Freedom Caucus released a May 18 statement calling for “no further discussion” on the debt ceiling until Senate Democrats have passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act, which House Republicans passed last month.

“Since then, they’ve added new, extreme demands to their ransom list, including provisions of the partisan Child Deportation Act, which passed without a single Democratic vote,” Aguilar continued, holding that McCarthy’s position of requiring spending cuts to raise the debt limit was “simply untenable.”

“House Democrats are not going to sign on to devastating cuts for teachers, food assistance, or Medicaid,” he said. “Speaker McCarthy needs to get serious before he sends the country spiraling into a recession.”

‘Somebody’s Got to Pay’

According to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the United States could default on its debt as soon as June 1 if the federal borrowing cap—currently set at $31.4 trillion—is not raised.

At the May 23 news conference, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) stressed that default would have lasting consequences for American citizens.

“A default is permanent,” he said. “We can’t reverse it. Once it happens, companies and businesses and banks and other countries will know we defaulted once on our debt, and that in fact, the validity of our public debt can be questioned. And that is going to have permanent ramifications for the American people and their children and their grandchildren.”

Who’s to Blame?

But while Democrats have focused on the dangers of default, the GOP has emphasized that there are consequences to raising the debt limit without addressing the underlying issues of government spending.

• Republicans argue that Democrats are pushing for a “blank check” to continue spending without any accountability.
• Democrats, on the other hand, say that Republicans are holding the country hostage by refusing to raise the debt limit without attaching controversial provisions.

As the deadline approaches, the question remains: who will be held responsible if the United States defaults on its debt?