GOP Rep. Ted Yoho: ‘Constitutionally, We Cannot Default’

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, left, performs a mock swearing in for Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., third from left, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2013, on Capitol Hill in Washington as the 113th Congress began.
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Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) defended his stance that the U.S. will not default if the debt ceiling is not raised on CNN’s ‘The Situation Room’ Thursday.

“You know, constitutionally, we cannot default.” Yoho said. “If we as a nation, as legislators, address this condition of overspending and if we address that and we say to the rest of the world … I think the rest of the market would breathe a sigh of relief.”

Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA), who also appeared on the show, challenged Yoho, saying that a small group of Republicans are keeping America from paying its bills.

“We are watching this family feud among Republicans, between the right and the far right, about what to do and it’s hurting Americans,” Becerra said.

Yoho refuted Becerra’s claim and called his remarks “disingenuous.”

“We’re going to pay the bills, going to pay our veterans, going to pay that, so to say that is being disingenuous,” Yoho said to Becerra.

When anchor Wolf Blitzer asked Yoho if he would support a bill that would raise the debt ceiling for six weeks, Yoho said he remained undecided.

“I would have to look, see what else is in that. I can’t answer that until I see what’s in that,” he said. “To borrow money in this government with people that have been here since 1993, what you’re looking at is giving an open credit card to people.”

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