Despite reports that Congressional Republicans may boycott President Obama’s bipartisan debt commission, it seems that the minority leaders likely will participate by appointing members to the group.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office confirmed to TPM that he will make appointments to the 18-member commission. (Congressional Republicans are allowed to appoint six members to the panel.) McConnell also released a statement today on what he hopes will be the goals of the panel.
“After trillions in new and proposed spending, Americans know our problem is not that we tax too little, but that Washington spends too much — that should be the focus of this commission,” he said.
House Minority Leader John Boehner’s office would not confirm that he will appoint anyone, but a statement from his press secretary makes a point of saying Boehner hasn’t ruled it out.
“We still haven’t heard from the President on our proposal to start cutting spending right now. That doesn’t mean we won’t participate in this commission, but it does indicate that Washington Democrats aren’t serious yet about shutting down their spending binge,” his spokesman, Michael Steel, tells TPMDC.
Obama signed the executive order creating the commission this morning. In his remarks, he said any recommendations made by the panel must be approved by 14 of the 18 members in order to ensure they are “bipartisan in nature.”
Boehner, with Minority Whip Eric Cantor, has called for the president to force Congress to cut spending by rescinding spending already in place instead of calling the debt commission.
“We cannot afford to simply punt the spending issue to a commission that won’t even release its recommendations until the end of the year,” he said earlier this month.
