“If Congress increases our national debt ceiling next month without permanent, structural budget reforms, we will signal to taxpayers and bond markets alike that Washington is still in denial,” they write. “Whatever agreement is reached, everyone will know that future Congresses are not obligated to follow it. As a result, the only way to compel lawmakers to maintain their responsibility forever is a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.”
While all Senate Republicans support the concept of a balanced budget amendment, one prominent member of the caucus said Wednesday that it’s impractical to push for the amendment as part of a debt ceiling deal.
“I applaud my colleagues for their tireless dedication to this cause, but our reality today dictates that we simply do not have the votes in this body to enact such a measure,” Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said on the Senate floor. “In order to avoid what could be disastrous consequences for our markets, our economy as a whole and our standing in the world, I encourage my colleagues to lay aside, at least temporarily, their insistence that amending the Constitution be a condition of their support for a solution to this terrible problem.”
