Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Bipartisan Progress Being Made To Avoid Catastrophic Default

Washington, D.C.– Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the bipartisan progress being made and the importance of avoiding default. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

All week long, both sides have kept talking about the future of our nation’s budget, while at the same time moved closer to fulfilling our responsibility to preserve the full faith and credit of the United States.

Avoiding default is nonnegotiable – it must be our north star and that cannot change. I am pleased that over the course of this week, everyone has acknowledged that allowing the country to default would be a catastrophe.

I am also pleased that the other side has recognized that the best way forward is a bipartisan piece of legislation that can secure enough votes to get through both the House and Senate. Partisan legislation just won't produce the result we need.

I am hopeful that soon both sides will find an agreement that keeps default completely off the table. We’ve made good progress this week, but the work continues. No one will get everything they want.

From the beginning, Democrats have said – I have said – that this process demands bipartisanship. It’s how we avoided default under President Trump. It’s how we have avoided default under President Biden, and it’s how we should avoid default this time too. Brinksmanship, hiding plans, hostage taking, none of that will move us closer to a solution.

But working together – and accepting that nobody will get everything they want – is the way to go.

Since the founding of our country, one thing has remained constant: when it is time to pay the bills, America has followed through. It is one of the cornerstones of our nation’s success.

If America would ever fail to pay its bills, the consequences would be horrific. Default would bring recession. Default would kill 8 million jobs. Default would send soaring costs on credit card payments, mortgages, small businesses, loans, and erode peoples’ 401(k)s.

Nobody, nobody wants that. Americans certainly can’t afford it. So we in Congress must avoid it at all costs.

I hope that negotiations continue in the right direction.

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