President-elect Donald Trump railed against former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s deal last year to raise the government’s debt limit, calling it “one of the dumbest political decisions made in years.”

Mr. Trump called Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, a “good man and a friend of mine” but bashed his decision to vote for raising the debt ceiling.

“There was no reason to do it — NOTHING WAS GAINED, and we got nothing for it — A major reason why that Speakership was lost,” he wrote on social media. “It was Biden’s problem, not ours. Now it becomes ours. I call it ’1929’ because the Democrats don’t care what our Country may be forced into.”

“In fact, they would prefer ’Depression’ as long as it hurt the Republican Party,” he said. “The Democrats must be forced to take a vote on this treacherous issue NOW, during the Biden administration, and not in June. They should be blamed for this potential disaster, not the Republicans!”

The last time there was a vote on the debt ceiling was in May 2023, after Mr. McCarthy struck a deal with President Biden to avoid a government default. The bill passed the Republican-controlled House in a bipartisan 314-117 vote, extending the government’s borrowing limit through Jan. 1, 2025.

Earlier this month, Mr. Trump urged Republicans to extend the debt ceiling until 2027 as part of a stopgap spending bill to avert a government shutdown. A bill ultimately passed that did not include the debt limit suspension.

He called the move to raise the debt limit “VITAL to the America First Agenda” and said that any Republican that voted against the debt limit extensions should be worried about being “primaried.”

“Any Republican that would be so stupid as to do this should, and will, be Primaried,” Mr. Trump said.

Negotiating a debt limit increase can take weeks and threatens to eat up valuable time in Congress when Mr. Trump wants to push through major legislation, including tax cuts and border security.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Friday that the U.S. could hit its debt limit in mid-January and urged Congress to act.

“Treasury expects to hit the statutory debt ceiling between January 14 and January 23,” Ms. Yellen wrote in a letter addressed to House and Senate leadership.

Treasury will take “extraordinary measures” to keep paying the government’s bills, delaying the default deadline until later in 2025, likely in June.

“I respectfully urge Congress to act to protect the full faith and credit of the United States,” Ms. Yellen said.

The U.S. national debt currently tops $36 trillion.

• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.