Bernie Sanders Opposes Eliminating Debt Ceiling as GOP Prepares to Fight Over Spending Cuts

Bernie Sanders Opposes Eliminating Debt Ceiling as GOP Prepares to Fight Over Spending Cuts
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) speaks during a hearing on Capitol Hill examining wages at large profitable corporations in Washington on Feb. 25, 2021. Susan Walsh/Getty Images
Naveen Athrappully
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Bernie Sanders, chair of the Senate Budget Committee, supports raising America’s debt ceiling but insists that the practice itself of having a debt ceiling must remain.

“You have to increase the debt ceiling,” Sanders insisted while speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union.” When asked whether the debt ceiling must be kept, Sanders confirmed “Yes, yes.” Sanders went on to criticize the GOP for proposing cuts in Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security—a move he called “absolutely irresponsible.” The Republican Party is expected to insist on such spending cuts in return for agreeing to raise the debt ceiling.