Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) denounced the provisional debt ceiling deal struck between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and President Joe Biden, describing it as, "absolutely terrible policy."
The Progressive Caucus Chair appeared on CNN to express her opposition to the tentative debt ceiling compromise.
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Particularly, Jayapal took issue with the inclusion of some work requirements for SNAP benefits, which she said would affect poor people. Though she said that she hadn't yet read the full text of the bill and isn't able to determine if the work requirements are a deal-breaker, she criticized Republicans' handling of negotiations.
"First of all, let me say, terrible policy," Jayapal said. "Absolutely terrible policy; does not reduce spending, actually, by some estimates, creates a burden on administrative spending that is actually worse for, you know, for the overall cost of a program like that. Number two, it is about people who are hungry, people who just need a little bit of temporary assistance...and we are one of the only countries in the world, if not the only country in the world, that is an industrialized country that puts any requirements on people who just want food. So very bad policy; does not save money and, by the way, does not work."
"I told the president that directly when he called me last week on Wednesday, that this is saying to poor people and people who are in need that we don't trust them," she added.
She said that some exceptions were, apparently, added to the work requirement, and she would look into those to see if there were enough to warrant her support for the bill.
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Despite her opposition to SNAP work requirements, she didn't rule out holding her nose and voting it through in order to avoid a default, which she believes would be "disastrous."
President Biden and McCarthy reached a tentative agreement on the debt ceiling on Saturday. The full text of the bill is expected to be released on Sunday.