Senator Murray to House Republicans on Debt Default: Get Serious About Averting Catastrophic Default

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(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray, a senior member and former chair of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement on Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s letter to Congress warning of a catastrophic default as soon as June 1 if Republicans refuse to raise the debt ceiling.

“House Republicans need to understand that holding the majority means they need to actually govern—it’s time to get serious about working with Democrats to simply pay our nation’s bill and avoid a catastrophic default as soon as possible. The clock is ticking—and much faster than many suspected—so House Republicans need to drop their dangerous opposition to paying our nation’s bills. This shouldn’t be controversial—we voted three times to do just that under President Trump and without threatening a catastrophic default.

“Even the threat of default is dangerous for our economy and for American families who stand to lose their livelihoods and thousands of dollars in retirement savings as we saw the last time Republicans forced America to the brink and caused a credit downgrade—and a default itself would be downright catastrophic for our country, our economy, and families in every zip code in America.

“House Republicans know full well that their Default on America Act is deeply unserious and deeply dangerous were it ever to be signed into law. It’s time to put aside partisanship, pay our bills, and then negotiate over what kind of investments we need to keep America safe and our economy strong—the way we do every year.”

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