Press Releases

WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, U.S. Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04) released the following statement on the passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act:

“I voted in favor of the Fiscal Responsibility Act this evening to prevent the first-ever default on our country’s debt. We are in a dangerous time, we were presented with only one bill, and we simply had no choice.

“The impacts of default would be like nothing we’ve ever seen. Experts agree America’s credit rating would sustain a painful reduction, our currency would be irreparably damaged, a deep and lengthy recession could be triggered, interest rates would rise, incomes would decline, retirement accounts would be drained, and hardworking families who are already struggling would be hit hard.

“The bill passed tonight takes meaningful steps toward restoring fiscal sanity— something Washington has avoided for decades. Among other things, it imposes sensible work requirements for welfare programs, streamlines the broken permitting process that delays important projects and increases taxpayer costs, and enacts caps to cut more than $2 trillion in federal spending. Indeed, the bill represents the largest deficit reduction measure in U.S. history.

“Some of my closest friends and fellow conservative colleagues have objected that the bill does not go far enough, and I certainly agree. However, because we Republicans currently control only one house of Congress, to avoid a default, our options were ultimately limited to either allowing the passage of a “clean” debt ceiling increase, or extracting as many concessions and reforms as we could in exchange for an increase. We had to pursue the latter.

“While President Biden and Senate Democrats ignored their responsibilities throughout this process, House Republicans refused to play politics with this issue. We are convinced America’s debt is the greatest single threat to our nation’s security and stability, and it is our duty to reduce the size and scope of government and return to fiscal responsibility before it’s too late. I look forward to building upon these initial efforts.”