Kevin McCarthy Slams Democrats Over ‘Four Years of Runaway Spending’ That Includes Half the Trump Era

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) gave remarks at the Capitol on Monday and blasted Democrats for racking up debt accumulated during the presidency of Donald Trump.

Since President Joe Biden took office, Republicans have rediscovered a desire for fiscal responsibility and lean federal spending. House Republicans are attempting to use their newfound majority to force the White House and Democratic-controlled Senate to agree to cut spending as a condition for raising the debt limit.

Last month, the U.S. hit that limit, which places a ceiling on the amount of debt the federal government can hold. The Department of the Treasury has undertaken “extraordinary measures” to continue meeting the country’s obligations. However, these will exhaust in early June. If Congress and the White House cannot agree on a deal, the U.S. will default for the first time in history.

McCarthy’s speech came the day before Biden is set to deliver the State of the Union address. At one point the speaker slammed Democrats for spending too much money over the last four years – a period of time dating back to Feb. 6, 2019, or just about the entire latter half of Trump’s presidency:

Thanks to four years of runaway spending by the Democrats, they increased annual discretionary spending by $400 billion. That’s a 30% increase in just four years. They took our nation’s credit card, spent like crazy, and left us in deep debt. But not once did they seek or accept any responsibility.

While it’s true that Democrats controlled the House from 2019 to 2023, the Senate was controlled by Republicans until 2021, which is also when Trump left office.

For the fiscal year 2020, the national debt ballooned by $4.5 trillion as Trump and Congress responded to the Covid-19 pandemic and delivered large amounts of economic relief to individuals in businesses. In fiscal year 2021, the debt increased by another $1.5 trillion.

When Trump left office, the national debt was at $28 trillion. Today, it’s around $31.5 trillion.

The debt ceiling fight is almost sure to be just the beginning of fiscal drama this year. Funding for the federal government will run out at the close of the fiscal year in late September. If Biden and Congress are unable to reach a deal, the government will shut down.

Watch above via C-SPAN 2.