For Immediate Release

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Patriotic Millionaires Statement on House Passage of Debt Ceiling Deal

“The choice should have never been between default or a deal.”

Washington, DC – This evening, the US House voted in favor of the deal reached between Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden to raise the debt limit, a deal which includes spending freezes, additional work requirements for SNAP and TANF, and a significant rollback of increased IRS funding from the Inflation Reduction Act.

In response, Morris Pearl, the Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires and a former managing director at BlackRock, Inc., released the following statement:

“This is a bad deal. All the spin in the world won’t change the fact that, while it’s certainly better than a default, rolling back over $20 billion in increased IRS funding is simply unacceptable, especially when combined with increased work requirements and spending freezes.

House Republicans have proven once again that there is nothing they care about more than making sure the ultra-rich can avoid paying taxes. In a fight they claimed was about shrinking the debt, they decided to prioritize rolling back IRS enforcement funding in a move that will actually increase the debt by billions. They have gone to bat to protect wealthy tax cheats, and won.

This deal is being sold as a compromise that is a win for both sides. But President Biden could have bypassed this entire manufactured crisis and invoked the 14th Amendment to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling. The deal is better than it could have been, but the choice should have never been between default or a deal.”

For additional information or interview requests, please contact Emily McCloskey at emily@patrioticmillionaires.org.