Biden slams Senate GOP as 'hypocritical, dangerous and disgraceful' amid debt ceiling fight

President Biden called Senate Republicans "hypocritical, dangerous and disgraceful," after they twice blocked a vote last week to raise the debt ceiling, likening a failure to do so to a "meteor crashing into the U.S. economy." 

Republicans say Democrats have the votes to raise the debt limit on their own, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is urging them to do so on their own – without Republican support. 

The president, speaking from the White House Monday, slammed Senate Republicans as "reckless and dangerous." 

"Raising the debt limit comes down to paying what we already owe, what has already been acquired," Biden said, noting it is not for "anything new." 

"The United States is a nation that pays its bills and always has, form its inception," Biden said. "We have never defaulted." 

Bien said that "what we pay for keeps us a great nation," noting that raising the debt ceiling helps to continue funding social security for seniors, salaries for U.S. military, benefits for veterans, and more. 

"We're able to borrow because we always pay our debt. That is America. That is who we are," he said. "It is called full faith in credit in the United States." 

"Let me be really clear," Biden continued. "Raising the debt limit is about paying off our old debts. It has nothing to do with any new spending being considered. It has nothing to do with my plan for infrastructure or ‘Building Back Better.’" 

Biden argued that raising the debt limit "is usually a bipartisan undertaking, and it should be." 

The president went on to slam Republicans, and former President Trump, for having incurred "nearly $8 trillion in additional debt." 

During the Trump administration, Republicans in Congress raised the debt limit three times--each time with Democrat support. 

"Now they won't raise it, even though they're responsible for the more than $8 trillion in bills incurred in the previous administration," Biden said. 

The president went on to warn that defaulting on debt would give the United States "self-inflicted wounds," take the economy "over a cliff," and "undermine the safety of U.S. treasury securities." He also warned the U.S. would have its credit rating downgraded, and the American people would see interest rates rising.

At this point, Republicans in the Senate are seeking to use the filibuster to block raising the debt ceiling without a simple majority – or 60 votes – instead of 50. 

"Not only are Republicans refusing to do their job, they're threatening to use their power from letting us do our job," Biden said, calling the move "hypocritical, dangerous and disgraceful," and adding that their "obstruction knows no bounds." 

Biden vowed that Democrats would meet their responsibility and obligations, and despite his push, said they are "not expecting Republicans to do their part." 

"We're just asking them not to use procedural tricks to block us from doing the job they won't do," he said, adding that without raising the debt limit, a "meteor is set to crash into our economy." 

"If you don't want to help save our country, get out of the way so you don't destroy it," he said, warning the American people that their financial state could be "directly impacted by this Republican stunt." 

"They need to stop playing Russian Roulette with the U.S. economy," he said. "Let the Democrats vote to raise the debt ceiling this week--without obstruction or further delays." 

He added: "Let us vote and end the mess. We gotta get this done. We must get this done." 

The president said, at this point, he has 48 votes in the Senate, but needs two more in order to pass a rise in debt ceiling. While Biden did not call the final two lawmakers out by name, they are Democratic-moderate Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.V., and Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. 

Biden said he has closed "the deal" with "99%" of his party, arguing that convincing Manchin and Sinema to get on board is "still underway." 

"I don't think there's been a president who's been able to close deals that's been in a position where he has only 50 votes in the Senate and a bare majority in the House. It's a process, a process," Biden said. "We'll get it done." 

The president's comments come after Senate Republicans voted twice last week to default. The vote suspended the debt ceiling until December 2022. 

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that failing to raise the debt ceiling before the Oct. 18 deadline would send the government into default for the first time in history. Yellen said it would have disastrous consequences that could plunge the country into another recession and destabilize global markets.

The limit on federal borrowing currently stands at $24.8 trillion. 

During the Trump administration, the debt limit was suspended three separate times, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. The most recent suspension was passed on a bipartisan basis in 2019 — it expired in June 2021. 

Failure to raise or suspend the debt ceiling could also lead to delays in Social Security and child tax credit checks this October. Yellen said that about 50 million seniors would be impacted, alongside millions of American families who rely on the child tax credit to make ends meet. Federal employees may also experience paycheck delays.

Raising or suspending the debt limit allows the federal government to pay obligations already incurred. It does not authorize new spending. 

The president, last week, signed legislation that would avoid a partial federal shutdown and keep the government funded through Dec. 3. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report