Spartz: McCarthy shouldn’t unilaterally remove Dems from committees
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz, an Indiana Republican, told News 8 that if Speaker Kevin McCarthy has a problem with a lawmaker, he should follow the same complaint process as everyone else.
Spartz’s comments came as McCarthy removed Democrats Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee. In an interview for “All INdiana Politics,” she said McCarthy’s decision is little different from the tactics House Speaker Nancy Pelosi used when she was in power.
“My job is not to please Kevin (McCarthy),” she said. “My job is to make sure that my party is not going to let the American people down and will do the right thing.”
Besides the committee assignment issue, Congress will have to decide whether to raise the debt ceiling and, if so, whether to combine this with spending cuts. The United States reached its borrowing limit last week. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has begun pursuing “extraordinary measures” to keep the country solvent but has warned those measures will only stave off a default until early June. The U.S. national debt is currently more than $31 trillion and represents 128 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Republicans in Congress have demanded spending cuts in connection with any increase in the debt ceiling while the Biden Administration has asked for an increase with no strings attached. Spartz said she does not support across-the-board cuts, as some budget hawks have proposed, because they could endanger critical programs. Instead, she said Congress should make targeted, deeper spending cuts, such as focusing on ways to bring down the cost of health care.
News 8 also asked Spartz about President Biden’s decision to give 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine to help that country fight back against the Russian invasion. Spartz, born and raised in Soviet-era Ukraine, said allowing the war to drag on would only lead to further deaths and embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin. Asked if the United States should provide more tanks, she replied the Ukrainians should receive whatever equipment is necessary to deter further aggression and bring the war to an end.
“All INdiana Politics” airs at 9:30 a.m. Sundays on WISH-TV.