Congressman Tim Burchett (R-TN) dismissed the possibility of a national default as he promised to vote against any agreement for raising the debt ceiling.

CNN’s Jim Acosta interviewed Burchett on Saturday, hours before House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden established an “agreement in principle” on the debt limit to avoid a default. McCarthy has been optimistic about the deal and getting enough GOP support to pass it through the House, but several of his fellow Republicans have vocally slammed the agreement by saying he caved on pushing for more spending cuts.

When Acosta asked Burchett if he considers default a serious concern for the country, he called for a return to “fiscal sanity” because “we cannot keep spending at these levels.”

“We need to get back to reality and stop spending money out of control,” he continued. “That’s the bottom line. And if it takes taking a vote, I voted to shut the government down under Trump, and I’d do it under Biden.”

“This is not a government shutdown, this is a default,” Acosta pointed out. “So you’re saying no matter what happens, you’ll vote for default?”

“It’s not a default, it’s a delay,” Burchett countered. “Just like in business, you put something off, you pay it off. If you can’t pay it off this week, we pay it off next week. And this is irresponsible for us to say anything other than that.”

Burchett put the responsibility for the situation on the “20 plus year old negotiators” working in the White House. When asked if he would deny his vote even if McCarthy asked him personally, Burchett said “I did the last time. I was one of four that did. I sat in his office and I told him no multiple times. We went through the scenarios, and I told him upfront. I’ve been telling him this for weeks and it’s nothing new.”

Watch above via CNN.

The post GOP Rep. Promises to Vote Against Debt Deal Despite Possibility of Default: ‘It’s a Delay’ first appeared on Mediaite.

from Mediaite https://ift.tt/k453EIS