Manchin: McCarthy Is ‘Most Reasonable’ on Debt, We Should Look at 5-10% Spending Reduction

On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) stated that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s approach to the debt ceiling is “most reasonable” and argued that spending reductions of 5-10% across the board should be explored.

Manchin stated, [relevant remarks begin around 3:45] “Kevin and I had a nice conversation a couple of weeks ago. And I think he’s most reasonable taking the approach, can’t we at least recognize 31.5 trillion is unmanageable and we shouldn’t be passing on to our children and grandchildren, we’re writing checks they can’t cash. And I know the president’s personality, you put those two in a room, I knew they could get along. I’m very hopeful this is going to work out without any drama or any theatrics. The bottom line is…it was $13 trillion of debt when I came on board and it continues to grow. I’ve been told if we just did our job on time, and why won’t we look at this, get our budget done? When the president gives his State of the [Union] address, like governors…when that happens, basically, you put your budget there. They work towards that. If we get ours done on September 30, I’m told that we could reduce the spending by as much as maybe 5 to 10% across the board, just doing our job on time. Shouldn’t we look at that?”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett