Rep. Susan Wild Votes to Pass Fiscal Responsibility Act, Avoid Default

"Default would have been catastrophic for everyone in our community, for the United States economy, and for the global economy," said Congresswoman Susan Wild. "I voted 'YES' on the Fiscal Responsibility Act to prevent a default because I don't believe we should hold the full faith and credit of the US hostage and kill hundreds of thousands of jobs, strip away health care coverage, defund law enforcement, or cause a recession-all things for which the most extreme members of the D.C. GOP were pushing."

"No compromise will ever be perfect, but this is a workable agreement to keep our economy functioning," Rep. Wild continued. "I believe my job as your Congresswoman requires compromise on important issues - and preventing the economic disaster that would ensue should America default is perhaps the most important issue I can think of."

Rep. Wild previously warnedof the catastrophic impact that defaulting on United States national debt would have on the national and global economy, calling for separation between a debt ceiling increase and budget negotiations, and a bipartisan compromise to avoid throwing the world economy into turmoil. Default in Pennsylvania Seven would mean7,600 jobs killed, Social Security payments for 105,000 families jeopardized, and health care at risk for 282,000 people who rely on Medicare, Medicaid, or Veterans Affairs health coverage - highlighting the urgency of avoiding the economic disaster that default would cause.

About the Fiscal Responsibility Act:

• The Fiscal Responsibility Actsuspends the debt ceiling until January 1, 2025, to prevent the devastating consequences of a default. It keeps non-defense spending roughly flat with current (FY 2023) levels in 2024 and increasing it by 1% in 2025.
  • The Fiscal Responsibility Act rejects the extreme, unreasonable 22% cuts across the board demanded in GOP leadership's initial proposal, the Limit, Save, Grow Act. This agreement protects critical investments in education, health care, child care, and more that GOP extremists tried and failed to slash, including any changes to Medicaid that would have put health care at risk for more than 21 million Americans.
• The Fiscal Responsibility Actfully funds veterans' medical care, investing in PACT Act programs at the level proposed in the President's 2024 budget and increasing the toxic exposure fund by nearly $15 billion - beating back dangerous proposed cuts to veterans' health care that were originally proposed by Republican House leadership.
• The Fiscal Responsibility Actexpands SNAP eligibility for veterans, the homeless, and foster children. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report, this expansion-despite being paired with new work requirements-would expand SNAP's net eligibility by roughly 78,000 people, or 0.2%.
• The Fiscal Responsibility Act preserves the key legislative wins of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the PACT Act, keeping the United States on a path to economic growth.
  • It repurposes $10 billion over the next two fiscal years from the IRS, part of the compromise to keep in place greater resources for non-defense priorities while also protecting the IRS' ability to improve customer service and crack down on wealthy tax cheats.

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