Sen. Eric Schmitt's, R-Mo., spoke on the Senate floor to urge his colleagues to vote for his resolution that would turn off the COVID spending spigot. (X/@SenEricSchmitt)
Sen. Schmitt stated that a couple of years ago, Congress passed legislation that authorized over $300 billion to go out during the COVID emergency and said the timing of that is supposed to expire at the end of this year, in 2024.
"Inflation is sky-high, COVID is over, it's time to stop this reckless spending," Schmitt said.
Schmitt then said that the Senate would be raised with a very simple question – Do they want to reign in a "lawless" administration and save taxpayers $13 billion dollars, at least?
"We got here because of Joe Biden's policies. That's where it got us here with our inflation and high interest rates. He got us here because of America's attack on American energy, as well as borrowing and printing money, some of which is the subject of Senator Schmitt's resolution to start clawing that back," Sen. Marshall stated during a press conference.
"Joe Biden used COVID as an excuse to spend $1.9 TRILLION we don’t have. It caused inflation & it's costing Americans over $12,000 more each year. Now Biden wants to break the law & extend the spending deadline for that money. I'm working with @SenEricSchmitt to stop him," Sen Ricketts wrote in a post on X.
Sen. Marshall reemphasized that interest rates are not going to come down until Congress stops borrowing and spending money.
People shop in a supermarket as rising inflation affects consumer prices in Los Angeles. (REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)
"That's a lie. I mean, we shouldn't be surprised by that now. It's a total lie. Essentially, the obligations that are committed before the end of 2024, according to existing law, will be honored," Schmitt countered.
"When this law was passed, every governor… knew exactly what the rules were and were structuring their programs around the rules. So if there's somebody who says, 'oh, I didn't know what those rules are,' it's not the truth," Sen. Ricketts added. "Everybody knew it going back to when this legislation was passed. And to say that somehow projects are not going to be completed or there's not going to be oversight, it's simply untrue. Because all this had to be planned years ago to be able to make sure you'd obligate the dollars in the appropriate way. So that's a bunch of hooey, what he's saying."
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The resolution vote failed 46-49.
Fox News' Brianna O'Neil contributed to this report.
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