Senate Democrats highlight ‘terrible choice’ of Republicans’ debt ceiling plan

Republican proposal mocked as ‘Default on America Act’ at hearing drawing attention to potential cuts to key programs

Senate Democrats held a hearing on Thursday to lambaste House Republicans’ proposal to raise the US government’s borrowing limit in exchange for spending cuts, as economists testified that a federal default would bring disastrous and decades-long consequences.

The hearing came a week after House Republicans narrowly passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act to raise the debt ceiling until May 2024. The legislation, championed by the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, would also roll back federal discretionary spending to 2022 levels and cap annual increases at 1%.