During an interview with CBS News on Thursday, Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) stated that he needs “something conservative back” in exchange for raising the debt limit in the government funding bill and pointed to taking FEMA funding that is allocated for COVID relief and reallocating the funds for hurricane relief as a specific example of something he thinks should be done.
McCormick said that he’s not opposed to raising the debt limit, “in itself. But you’ve got to give me something back. The American people have demanded that we have accountability. We’re going to plus-up on FEMA because of the hurricanes. I get that. But you know what? We would have never run out of that money had we not pilfered it with 40% going to COVID relief in 2024. That’s on us.”
He added that he wants to lift the debt limit, “but you’ve got to give me something. This is a negotiation. … If you want to lift the debt ceiling, give me something conservative back.”
McCormick further stated that the COVID relief budget inside FEMA should be used for hurricane relief and that would be something that would be an improvement to the bill.
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