U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is among a handful of Republicans who raised concerns over the debt ceiling bill ahead of a Monday default deadline due to wanting it to include more defense spending.
The group of GOP defense hawks also would like the Senate to vote on all 12 government spending bills to avert a 1 percent cut that could take effect under the debt limit compromise reached by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California.
While The Hill and Politico reported the Republican hawks could try to sink the debt ceiling deal, Collins spokeswoman Annie Clark said Thursday the group is “not holding up consideration” of the bill.
The debt limit deal Biden and McCarthy reached over the weekend would cap national defense spending in fiscal year 2024 at $886 billion, a 3.2 percent bump. Military funding would then go up by 1 percent in fiscal year 2025 to total $895 billion, under the plan.
In a floor speech Thursday, Collins, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, called the defense spending figure in the bill “completely inadequate.”
“It doesn’t begin to cover inflation,” Collins also said, according to Politico.
Collins added the “budget request would actually shrink the size of our Navy,” and she said it falls “woefully short in funding the fuel costs of our military.”
The deal would leave the Navy with 291 ships, six short of today’s fleet of 297, Collins said. Meanwhile, China has the largest navy in the world and is growing to 400 ships in the next two years, she said.
The defense spending is part of the 99-page bill released Sunday that would suspend the nation’s debt ceiling through 2025 and include a mix of more funding and spending cuts.
The GOP-controlled House approved Wednesday the agreement from Biden and McCarthy, a California Republican, in a 314-117 vote, with Maine’s two Democratic members, Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree, each backing it.
Approval from the Senate, which is nearly split evenly along party lines, is needed before Monday to prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its roughly $31 trillion debt.
In addition to asking Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York to commit to bringing all 12 government spending measures up for votes this year, the group reportedly wants a commitment to take up supplemental legislation to increase defense spending and assist Ukraine in its war against Russia, according to NBC News.
Collins had also mentioned her concerns in a statement her spokesperson provided Tuesday to the Bangor Daily News, saying the nation could face “across-the-board, indiscriminate cuts in defense, biomedical research, transportation, education and other programs” if the 12 spending measures are not approved this year.
She otherwise credited McCarthy “for negotiating an agreement that will prevent a default, which would be catastrophic for our economy and for millions of people who rely on federal programs.”
Potential amendments from other current opponents to the debt ceiling bill, including U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat, U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, and U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, are not expected to pass with the Monday deadline looming.
“I don’t want to see our country default for the first time in history,” Collins said Thursday on the Senate floor. “I do believe that would have catastrophic consequences. But we need to fix these problems.”
Maine’s junior senator, Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, commended McCarthy and Biden earlier in the week “for proceeding with these negotiations in good faith.”
“From initial scanning of the bill, there were concessions made that I disagree with, and things that are good news for many Americans,” King said. “This is what compromise looks like in a divided government. The most important part of this agreement is that it will hopefully allow us to avoid a devastating economic meltdown through an avoidable default.”