Sen. Joe Manchin called on his Democratic colleagues on Thursday to negotiate with Republicans on spending cuts ahead of the country’s summer deadline to raise the debt ceiling.
The West Virginia senator, a centrist Democrat, argued that the United States needs to put itself on a fiscally sustainable path, a call that comes as Republicans push to roll back spending as part of any debt ceiling agreement. Democratic lawmakers have resisted the call for concessions, largely insisting on a clean increase and arguing that risking default would be devastating for the economy. Manchin, for his part, said today's spending levels are “absolutely crippling.”
“If you love your children, if you love this country, you'll stop the madness and start acting reasonably and responsibly to get our government's financial house in order. It's long past due. The partisan politics can wait,” he said in a floor speech.
“There's always times to have arguments and disagreements. But the looming debt crisis cannot. It cannot basically have the disruption that we have and the discourse and political toxic atmosphere that we have here. We've got to come together for the sake of our great country," he added.
Manchin warned that the interest on the debt should be a grave cause for concern, stating that he does not believe addressing the annual deficits should be a partisan issue.
“Watching party politics and out-of-control spending threaten the very foundation of our great nation. This is exactly what George Washington was talking about, and he was so right 227 years ago and what's so wrong with Washington today,” he said.
“The American people have had enough of the gimmicks and budgetary games that we play in Congress, and it's got to stop. I venture to say — I would venture to say that there are very few accountants, professionals in this field, and accounting professionals that have expertise that could make any sense out of our scoring and how we expense,” he added.
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Manchin took aim at some conservatives for floating the idea of allowing for a default and called for the GOP to lay out specific proposals for spending reductions.
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“We have to pay our sins of the past, but can't we at least sit down and discuss, just discuss how did we get here so fast? Faster than any time in history in a 10-year period, how did we accumulate this much debt? Can we talk about that and see if there's a pathway forward?” he said.
“My Republican friends refuse to offer any specifics and some have threatened default, which is absolutely not on the table, cannot be on the table, and will not happen," he added. "I can assure you we'll never solve the problems by each party running in opposite directions and we'll only be able to change course by coming together, embracing common sense, and finding common ground.”
His comments come ahead of next week's release of President Joe Biden’s budget proposal.