On the recordFebruary 16, 2017
I know Mick Mulvaney. We served together for 6 years in the House of Representatives. I have always found him to be a straight shooter. And he was a champion of budget transparency. I also respect him for taking on some budget fights even when they were not popular with his Republican leadership. We worked together to ensure honest budgeting when we joined in efforts to prevent the use of overseas contingency operations funding as a slush fund for unlimited Pentagon spending. I have deep concerns, however, about many of the positions that Mr. Mulvaney has taken over the years on matters vital to the Nation. He has proposed radical measures that would undermine our fundamental safety net. He has said, ``We have to end Medicare as we know it.'' And he criticized Congressman Paul Ryan's already harsh budget because it did not cut important programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid fast enough. Mr. Mulvaney has taken too cavalier an attitude toward the threat of default on U.S. Government obligations. He called the need to raise the debt ceiling a ``fabricated crisis.'' And he has repeatedly introduced legislation to prioritize payment of obligations to bondholders--who are often foreign--over other government obligations, including those to our veterans--in effect paying China first. At his confirmation hearing, he did not indicate that he has changed his view. The failure of the U.S. Government to pay its debts would wreak havoc on the economy.…
