The 2012 Republican presidential candidates are starting to weigh in on Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) plan to hand the White House authority over the debt ceiling and so far the reviews are not good.
Asked by TPM for their take, Mitt Romney’s campaign e-mailed to “reiterate” the candidate’s demands for a debt limit deal.
“Mitt Romney does not believe the federal debt limit should be raised without tying it to spending cuts, budget caps and a balanced budget amendment,” spokeswoman Andrea Saul said.
On Twitter, Newt Gingrich threw caution to the wind and accused McConnell of selling out conservatives.
“McConnell’s plan is an irresponsible surrender to big government, big deficits and continued overspending. I oppose it,” he wrote.
In an ironic twist, reports indicate that McConnell’s office is modeling their plan after the 1996 Congressional Review Act, which House and Senate Republicans attached to a $600 billion debt ceiling increase back when Gingrich was Speaker. The legislation allowed Congress to pass resolutions disapproving of agency rules that the White House could then veto, but did not affect presidential authority over the debt limit.
