White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said on Saturday that if GOP’s proposed spending caps were implemented more than 2,000 border patrol agents would be laid off alone.
Republicans have said the $130 billion cut is meant to bring spending back into line with where it was before Congress passed a $1.7 trillion government funding bill in December 2022. That legislation saw defense spending alone grow by nearly 10% — from $782 billion to $858 billion. The warning came at the same time as officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs could see a 22% percent cut under the GOP’s debt limit bill. The VA said that would translate to high backlogs and worse services for America’s veterans.
“Misrepresentation, misinformation,” said Rep. Eli Crane, Arizona Republican. “I was in the room with the Freedom Caucus while they were drafting a lot of the elements that went into the cuts … most of it is woke and weaponized federal spending.” House Republicans have outlined other cuts they also want to see in exchange for raising the debt limit. Topping the list is rescinding at least $90.5 billion in unspent pandemic relief, canceling Mr. Biden‘s student loan forgiveness program, and scraping green energy tax credits that Democrats passed last year.