Democrats and Republicans — most notably House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — are patting themselves on the back (or at least sighing relief) after appearing to head off a self-inflicted debt default by passing a debt ceiling bill in the House.
But Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina — longtime hawk, Ukraine supporter, China basher, and self-described “Reagan Republican” — is saying he’s a “hell, no” as the bill goes to the Senate.
Graham is on the warpath over the war machine — and what he characterizes as cuts to the military budget. The Senator rejects outright the assertion that the military is “fully funded” by the bill.
Have total disgust for political leaders’ decision to make it remotely possible to gut our national security apparatus at a time of great peril.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) May 29, 2023
Take this absurd idea off the table.
Graham — who is demanding a supplemental bill to support the military — says the McCarthy-Biden compromise is a “disaster” for American national security.
We will need a supplemental funding bill to strengthen our own national security, address the needs of our men and women in uniform, strengthen our position in the Middle East, ensure we counter China, and reaffirm our support for Ukraine as they repel the Russian invaders.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) June 1, 2023
The Senate gets to pass its own judgement on the budget compromises before anything reaches President Biden’s desk for signature. And Graham vehemently promises he will not stand down for the military cuts he sees in the bill, which Graham says leaves the American armed forces “$42 billion short of matching inflation.”
Graham: My plan is to inform the American people to this budget deal is a disaster for the United States military pic.twitter.com/jLUykuHM3v
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 1, 2023
Graham says the debt compromise bill puts the U.S on track to reduce the number of ships in its navy to 291 at the same time global rival China increases its naval fleet by nearly 50 percent — to 440 ships from 300. Graham calls the McCarthy-Biden compromise a “big win for China.”
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