House Republicans want to apply deep cuts to everything from health insurance to food assistance benefits, an effort that would plunge millions more Americans into extreme poverty.
The debt ceiling is a numerical limit, set by Congress, on how much money the federal government can borrow to pay its bills. Increasing the debt ceiling is a routine congressional task, but Republicans want to hold it hostage to make cuts to Social Security and Medicare, even though failing to raise the limit would cause massive economic devastation.
More than 150 of the 222 House Republicans elected in November voted to overturn the 2020 election results and/or denied the legitimacy of the outcome.
