Letter to Hon. Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader - Hoyer, House Democrats Send Letter to Minority Leader McConnell Urging Action on the Debt Limit

Letter

Dear Senator McConnell:

On three occasions over the past four years, the previous president and the Republican Senate, in which you served as Majority Leader, asked Democrats to do the responsible thing for the American people and vote to suspend the debt limit. Every signatory to this letter did so at least once, setting aside the temptation to extract political pain, in order to ensure that our country could pay its bills.

We agreed with your assessment in 2017, 2018, and 2019 that the consequence of inaction would be, as you said, "a debt limit crisis that could put our full faith and credit at risk." Indeed, we also agree with your statement last week that, "The country must never default. The debt ceiling will need to be raised." In this instance, the American people would confront a default crisis at a much more vulnerable moment as the economy recovers from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is time for you and the Republican Conference you lead to do as we did before -- to do the right thing, the necessary thing, to avert a manufactured crisis.

Holding the debt limit hostage, as you and forty-five of your Republican Senate colleagues have said you will do, is a dangerous, illogical, and irresponsible way to express that concern. Whatever you think about the policy agenda that the current administration and the Democratic majorities in Congress are pursuing, we know you agree that it would be dangerous malpractice to allow our economy to be unnecessarily crippled by political uncertainty over a possible default on our obligations as a country. You said as much as two years ago when you last voted to suspend the debt ceiling. We hope you will do your part -- and that you will convince your fellow Republican senators will do theirs -- to ensure that our economic recovery can move forward without this brinksmanship.

Sincerely,