East Texas Congressman weighs in on crucial debt ceiling budget vote

TYLER — The debt ceiling and budget cuts package is heading toward a crucial U.S. House vote. East Texas Congressman Nathaniel Moran spoke with KTBB Wednesday morning about his thoughts on the overall Fiscal Responsibility Act package. Moran said, “As I read this bill over the past few day, I can tell you we’re in a much better place under this bill than we were 90 days ago, when the President would not negotiate on a debt ceiling increase.” Moran goes on to say, “We have a lot of spending reforms, a lot of regulatory and administrative reforms that have been needed for a while. It’s good. Whether or not it’s good enough to earn a ‘yes’ vote from me and a ‘yes’ vote from the First District of Texas…we’ll see.” Moran says, “We’re going to work through that process all the way up until the time of the vote today, and then we’ll cast the vote that best represents the interests of the people of the First District of Texas.”

President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy are working to assemble a coalition of centrist Democrats and Republicans to push it to passage over blowback from conservatives and some progressive dissent. Biden and McCarthy are rushing to avert a potentially disastrous U.S. default in less than week. Despite deep disappointment from hard-right Republicans that budget cuts don’t go far enough, McCarthy insists he’ll have the votes to ensure approval. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says the package reduces deficits by $1.5 trillion over the decade.