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WASHINGTON. As Republicans in the US House of Representatives debate what to cut federal Spending in their fight against Democrats over the Debt Ceiling, a handful of Texans are making it clear: don’t mess with the military.

Republicans have largely used the Debt ceiling as a tool to negotiate federal spending cuts with the Biden administration, but opinions differ on where to cut the fat. Some, including Texans who have long defended military spending, argue that Congress should not touch defense funding, while others say all funding other than benefits should be on the negotiating table. This is an uncertainty that the Republicans can hardly afford with only six votes in the House of Representatives.

[U.S. Rep. Chip Roy says he’ll use debt ceiling threat to push through his border security plan]

Texas Republicans have played a central role in debt ceiling discussions within their party. US representatives Michael McCallChairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Kay Granger, heads of the House Appropriations Division, both are prominent defense hawks who oppose cuts to any military spending. Meanwhile, representatives Jody ArringtonChairman of the House Budget Committee and Chip Roy, a member of the Freedom Caucus, are ready to scorch the earth to balance the country’s ledgers. Roy has found new influence in his party after a shaky balance of power emerged this year. tumultuous election for Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The stakes are high. Last month, the Biden administration urged Congress to quickly raise the debt ceiling to pay interest on its debts and fund federal programs already approved by Congress. Failure to do so could mean a country defaulting on its debt – something it has never done before – and seriously undermining confidence in the country’s economy and assets.

Both sides agree that this will be a disaster for the entire world. The federal government is projected to run out of money this summer, after which Congress will be forced to raise the national debt ceiling to avoid extreme measures.

“I think it’s fair to say that this is the most serious debt ceiling situation since 2011,” said Rep. Brendan Boyle, Democrat of Pennsylvania, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee.

Defense spending has risen steadily under both Democratic, Republican, and Congressional presidency. Last year’s federal spending bill included a 10 percent increase in defense spending, a rise that Republican conference defense hawks like McCall and Granger argue is necessary amid growing threats from China, Russia and Iran. The bill included about $45 billion in aid to Ukraine and NATO in an attempt to prevent further Russian aggression.

But a vocal handful of far-right Republicans at the conference are skeptical about allocating more money to defend Ukraine. They argue that protecting the US’s southern border should be a higher priority. This is a point of view that McCall calls dangerous.

“If Ukraine falls, President Xi in China is going to invade Taiwan,” McCall said. CNN interview. “They talk about the border – not at all mutually exclusive. We can do both. We are a great country.”

It took months of negotiations to pass last year’s spending package for the federal government, with high potential for collapse before the close of Congress. The uncertainty has led to fears at the Defense Department that it will not be able to plan its financial program as Russia threatened to escalate the war in Ukraine, and defense spending advocates do not want a repeat.

Granger’s committee determines how much money should go to individual state programs, and while she opposed the spending bill because of its high spending on non-defense priorities, the Fort Worth Republican is a major proponent of defense spending, including manufacturing in her county of North Texas. .

Roy said he would prefer to keep or even increase defense spending in the next budget process, but he does not rule out cutting defense spending to balance the nation’s books. When asked if there is still a need to cut defense spending, he said: “You have to figure out how to do it.”

Roy also voted against a $40.1 billion aid package to Ukraine last May, shortly after Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine, although his main objection the bill referred to the manner in which it was thrown to the floor, preventing members from studying and discussing it before it was put to a vote. He also expressed concern about the lack of revenue streams to fund the bill, which means another increase in public debt.

Roy told The Texas Tribune that he personally would prefer to reduce all discretionary spending, except defense spending, to pre-pandemic levels. It will not cover mandatory spending on programs such as Medicare and Social Security. It would be politically fraught for Republican voters, many of whom rely on social spending benefits.

But that leaves few options for cuts, and Democrats have made it clear that the kinds of cuts Republicans are pushing for on non-defense programs are not starter cuts.

“If you say that we will cut the government, but not touch social security, medical care or defense? Okay, you’re talking about pennies on the dollar, you know, Boyle said. “Non-discretionary defense includes many important things: education, Pell grants, veterans medical care. A number of things that, frankly, many of their members are for.”

“It’s a bit like I’m about to go on a diet, but I’m not going to give up cheesecakes, cookies and all sorts of sweets,” he added.

Republicans will need to bring Democrats into the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats.

Republicans have long feared that rising public debt, much of which goes to paying off past loans, is placing an unbearable burden on future generations. They see the upcoming debt cut as a great opportunity to get Democrats to agree to provisions to curb the deficit. Both parties voted in favor of raising the debt ceiling, and the national debt rose steadily under both parties.

Far-right members of the Republican Conference of the House of Representatives, led by Roy, were in talks with Speaker Kevin McCarthy during his bid to return overall discretionary spending to FY2022 levels, which were spending levels realized prior to the passage of the government’s package last December. $1.7 trillion in spending. . That would mean a cut to around $1.47 trillion in fiscal year 2024 starting this October.

A preview of the current debate appeared when a member of the House of Representatives. Tony GonzalezR-San Antonio voted against the package, which sets the rules for the current Congress and includes an agreement to cut government spending.

“Investing millions of dollars in a fence is a bad idea. And yes, especially now that we have a growing threat, China and threats to Taiwan,” Navy veteran Gonzalez said at the time.

Roy’s office strictly denied that defense cuts were ever part of any negotiations with the party leadership at the time.

Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress and the White House consider a default on the federal debt too dangerous to use it as a bargaining chip and demand to raise the national debt ceiling without any conditions. Boyle argued that Congress would have to negotiate how much money to spend in its annual budget and appropriation process anyway, and there was no need to tie spending to a debt ceiling.

But Arrington dismissed Democrats’ demands for a “clean” increase in the debt ceiling as unrealistic. Democrats will need Republicans’ backing just as Republicans need their backing to raise the debt ceiling, and he refuses to pass up a chance to cut spending in line with an agreement reached between the Republican leadership and Roy’s dissenting camp in January.

“I don’t think the president is going to escape having to negotiate some fiscal reforms in the most responsible way so that we can bend this debt curve so we can get on a sustainable path, prevent a debt crisis and act like adults,” Arrington said in a statement. Fox News interview.