Rep. Courtney Statement After Musk-Johnson Fiasco Fails
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-02) issued the following statement after voting ‘no’ on H.R. 10515, which was resoundingly defeated in a bipartisan vote of 174-235.
“House Speaker Mike Johnson abandoned the bipartisan bill he himself introduced two days ago after misleading, threatening tweets from an unelected billionaire, Elon Musk.
“Now, the new hyper-partisan Musk-Johnson bill stripped critical bipartisan provisions that Americans desperately need to lower drug costs, help seniors, and support hospitals and community clinics. Musk’s demand to prematurely suspend the debt ceiling is a blatant gambit to slash taxes for the ultra-wealthy and do so at the detriment of working-class Americans and our nation’s debt – which increased by record amounts during then-President Trump’s first term.
“As President Trump said in 2019, ‘I can’t imagine anybody ever even thinking of using the debt ceiling as a negotiating wedge.’ We must return to the bipartisan Continuing Resolution that provides disaster assistance to farmers and Americans rebuilding from extreme weather events and invests in shipbuilding programs without giving the President-elect and Elon Musk unchecked power for the next two years.”