The White House on Tuesday unequivocally threatened to veto GOP-backed legislation to extend the debt limit deadline by reprioritizing payments to creditors and Social Security beneficiaries.
“[T]he President has been clear that he will not negotiate around whether to uphold the full faith and credit of the United States,” the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement. “Congress must pay the bills it has already racked up; failure to do so would put the Nation into default. The President will not tolerate political gamesmanship, which proved so harmful to the Nation’s economy in 2011. For this reason, if the President is presented with legislation that would result in the Congress choosing to default on the full faith and credit of the United States, he would veto it.“
The legislation is expected to come up for a House vote.
“This bill would threaten the full faith and credit of the United States, cost American jobs, hurt businesses of all sizes, and do damage to the economy,” OMB said. “It would cause the Nation to default on payments for Medicare, veterans, national security, and many other critical priorities. This legislation is unwise, unworkable, and unacceptably risky. Earlier this year, the Congress took a sensible approach to paying the bills it had already incurred by raising the debt limit. By contrast, the proposal in H.R. 807, which chooses which bills to pay, is a deeply irresponsible approach that is simply default by another name.”
