Rep. Mike Gallagher was one of the 314 members of the House of Representatives to approve a deal to suspend the debt ceiling in exchange for some cuts to government spending on Wednesday. The congressman, whose Eighth Congressional District includes Door and Kewaunee counties, was one of five Wisconsin congressional members to vote in favor of the deal. Wisconsin Democratic Reps. Mark Pocan and Gwen Moore and fellow Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany voted against the measure.
In a statement released after the vote, Gallagher said the Fiscal Responsibility Act pulls the brakes on government spending while also looking to secure unspent COVID-related funds, restart student loan payments, and strengthen work requirements for those on welfare. He did chastise the bill for not raising the funding for the Department of Defense or eliminating mandatory spending. You can read his full statement below.
The bill now goes to the U.S. Senate ahead of the June 5th deadline set by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who suggests the government could run out of money by then. Last week, U.S. Senators Ron Johnson (Republican) and Tammy Baldwin (Democrat) weighed in on the debt limit. Sen. Johnson told WisPolitics.com that it was a “phony crisis” but that he would support the House bill. Senator Baldwin told the website that she has not signed onto a letter urging President Joe Biden to use the 14th Amendment to bypass Congress to raise the debt ceiling, but she had not ruled it out.
