House Democrats’ attempt to kill the debt ceiling measure fails.

House Democrats’ Attack Ad Against Kevin McCarthy’s Debt Ceiling Measure Falls Flat

House Majority Forward, the dark money arm of House Democrats’ super PAC, recently launched an attack ad campaign against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s debt ceiling measure. The ad aimed to tie McCarthy and “MAGA Republicans” to the threat of default and flip six competitive districts blue in the 2024 election. However, the ad campaign turned out to be a major dud.

Last Wednesday, the ad ran just twice on daytime MSNBC programs before the House voted to approve McCarthy’s plan. The ad falsely claimed that McCarthy’s proposal would cut education, air, and water protections and cancer research by 22 percent. Total spending for the ad campaign was just $7,486, according to AdImpact metrics.

False Claims and Accountability

The ad repeated the White House’s false claims that House Republicans seek to cut specific government programs by 22 percent. McCarthy’s debt ceiling measure would rewind non-defense discretionary spending to 2022 levels and limit future expenditure growth by 1 percent annually for the next 10 years in return for raising the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion.

House Majority Forward communications director C.J. Warnke said the ad campaign was a major victory in Democratic efforts to hold “MAGA Republicans” accountable. Warnke did not dispute the AdImpact data when contacted Tuesday afternoon.

Passing the Measure

McCarthy’s measure passed the House last Wednesday on a narrow 217-215 vote, with four Republicans voting against the bill. The federal government is set to default on its debt sometime in June if no action is taken, but President Joe Biden has insisted that he will not negotiate over a debt ceiling increase. Biden recently caved to Republican demands to initiate talks over a debt ceiling increase, however, when he set up a May 9 White House meeting with the top four congressional leaders.

Reaction from Republicans

“Democrats could not dignify their false attacks with enough money to fuel a used car salesman’s local ad campaign. Where is their disinformation czar?” said National Republican Congressional Committee press secretary Will Reinert.