ICYMI: Boyle: “Kevin McCarthy being confident doesn’t fill me with confidence.”
Boyle: "It's about time that Kevin McCarthy cares more about the jobs of the American people and not his own job"
Washington, DC – Over the weekend, Pennsylvania Congressman Brendan F. Boyle, Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee, joined Jonathan Capehart on The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart to discuss the looming Republican shutdown just days away from the September 30th funding deadline.
Below is a transcript of Ranking Member Boyle's remarks on The Sunday Show:
Jonathan Capehart: I mean, you are the Ranking Member on the Budget Committee. Do you think a week from today we'll be talking about the fact that the government has run out of money, that it is shut down?
Ranking Member Boyle: Well, thanks for being on, great to be here with both of you. I can tell you Kevin McCarthy being confident about winning a vote doesn't fill me with confidence.
He was confident that he was going to be elected speaker of the first time as well. He was also confident both of those rule votes were going to pass this week, and for the first time in 20 years, the House Speaker and House majority lost the procedural vote, and then they went on to lose it again just two days later.
So, this is a crowd that can't shoot straight and even do the most simple things. But you know, there was one success over the last nine months, one truly bipartisan success, and that was the bill that we passed in June to raise the debt ceiling. 80 percent of House Democrats joined 67 percent of House Republicans to pass that legislation. It also passed the Senate and was signed into law by President Biden.
Then Kevin McCarthy went about reneging on that deal in order to appease his extreme MAGA caucus. If he would stop reneging on that deal, return to what passed the Congress in June, we could end this literally this week, and ensure the American people don't suffer from a government shutdown.
Capehart: But Congressman Boyle, I mean, that is common sense, that is right. That is exactly what should happen. But if the speaker does that, he'll lose the gavel, wont he?
Ranking Member Boyle: Well, he may lose the gavel, but he's frankly too afraid to risk it. It's about time that Kevin McCarthy cares more about the jobs of the American people and not his own job, first and foremost.
Because, again, I go back to June, Kevin McCarthy should call the extreme MAGA caucuses bluff, rather than constantly attempting to appease them. I mean, right now, it's Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz who were holding sway over the caucus. Literally the plan for this week, as I understand it, with a CR that would include something like 27 percent budget cuts and doing now finally into individual appropriation bills, it was Matt Gaetz who came up with this plan, and now Kevin McCarthy is relenting.
So if he could develop the backbone to stand up to them, and work with us, we know we have a big bipartisan majority to ensure that we don't face a shutdown. Because a shutdown is painful: the last several have cost at least 6 billion to the economy, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
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Capehart: Congressman Boyle, let me give you the last word, real quick.
Ranking Member Boyle: Well, I want to reiterate that the shutdown comes at a real cost. There will be millions of workers who would be furloughed. We saw in 2013, as well as 2018, a real hit to the economy. But if it happens, it will be like every previous shutdown. These only happen when Republicans are in charge of at least one chamber of Congress. The way to prevent this, though the way out, is for Kevin McCarthy to work finally with House Democrats.
If he does that, we can avoid it. Otherwise, unfortunately, there will be a shutdown.
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