Former Vice President Mike Pence ripped into the debt ceiling deal, contending it doesn't adequately tackle the nation's fiscal challenges.
"Congress' debt limit deal doesn't just kick the can down the road, it uses Washington smoke and mirror games to make small reforms while weakening our military at a time of increasing threats from foreign adversaries," Pence said in a statement by the Advancing American Freedom nonprofit group, which is aligned with him.
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His criticism did not mention House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) or House Republicans by name.
Pence has yet to enter the 2024 GOP primary but has actively been toying with a run with a brisk itinerary of stops in early states. On Wednesday, he is slated to attend a discussion at the Russell Kirk Center in Grand Rapids with former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos for a discussion about the "future of conservatism in America."
"It’s time to be honest with the American people," Pence added. "By ignoring the drivers of our national debt and avoiding honest conversations with the American people, President Biden and the Washington establishment continue to pile the burden of debt onto the backs of our grandchildren, and the American people deserve better.”
Before debt limit negotiations kicked into high gear, McCarthy ruled out cuts to entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. Pence has publicly nudged the GOP into addressing those programs, which are careening toward bankruptcy, and he has suggested they are drivers of the deficit.
Under the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, nondefense and nonveteran discretionary spending growth will be effectively kept down until 2024 before increasing by roughly 1% in 2025.
Military spending would ring in about $886 billion, and nonmilitary discretionary spending would be at $704 billion for fiscal 2024 if the bill passes. That's a roughly 3% increase in military expenditures.
If the spending caps outlined in the bill are retained for six years, it could reduce the deficit by $2.1 trillion, according to a preliminary assessment from the Congressional Budget Office. However, the budget caps are only required for the first two years.
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Well over a dozen Republicans have come out in opposition to the bill, which is expected to receive a vote in the House on Wednesday. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who announced his 2024 bid last week, has similarly decried the measure as insufficient.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that if Congress fails to act, the government will run out of cash to meet all its obligations as soon as Monday.