The Debt Ceiling Fight Begins

The Journal.

The Wall Street Journal

Business News, News, Daily News

4.2 • 5.8K Ratings

🗓️ 25 April 2023

⏱️ 16 minutes

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Summary

The U.S. only has a few months until it can no longer pay its bills. Republicans say they’ll only raise the debt ceiling if Democrats agree to aggressive spending cuts. WSJ’s Natalie Andrews explains the Republican's proposal and what’s at stake for the economy. Further Reading: -Kevin McCarthy, House GOP Debt-Limit Plan Face Crucial Test This Week -Kevin McCarthy Says House GOP Plans to Vote on Debt Limit, Spending Cuts -U.S. Nears Debt Ceiling, Begins Extraordinary Measures to Avoid Default Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Natalie Andrews. I'm a congressional reporter for the Wall Street Journal and I cover
0:10.1	House Republicans. Could you just like summarize what's going on right now?
0:15.9	Sheer chaos is that allowed? Sheer chaos. I feel like every time I talk to you, that's
0:21.5	Sheer chaos in Congress. That's true. It's chaos because the US government is running
0:29.3	up against its debt ceiling. And whenever that happens, Congress has to vote to raise it.
0:35.3	If they don't do it in time, it could cause huge problems for the US economy.
0:40.6	But Republicans who just took control of the House of Representatives say they won't
0:44.8	vote to raise the ceiling without conditions.
0:47.8	The deadline is approaching and this week, House Republicans are going to put a bill on
0:53.8	the floor that's their opening negotiation. So this is kind of Republicans putting down
1:00.8	their first mark and saying, hey, Joe Biden, US for our plan. This is our plan. Now come
1:07.1	back to the table and let's talk. This sounds like a very high stakes battle.
1:12.8	Yeah, this is the country has never defaulted on its debt. But a few times they have gone
1:18.8	under the brink and this fight looks like it's going to go to the brink as well.
1:24.8	Welcome to the journal, our show about money, business and power. I'm Ryan Koonutsen.
1:30.8	It's Tuesday, April 25th.
1:37.8	Coming up on the show, the GOP's opening salvo in the battle over the debt ceiling.
1:49.8	What will the world look like 10 or 20 years from now? The Wall Street Journal's future of
2:01.8	everything podcast is here to give you a peek and we can't wait to show you what's coming.
2:06.8	Subscribe now.
2:09.8	Just about every year, the US government spends more than it brings in. And as a result,
2:20.8	the country currently has about $31.4 trillion of debt. The US actually already bumped up against
	...

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