WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, today voted against the motion to report the nomination of Congressman Mick Mulvaney to serve as Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) out of the Senate Budget Committee. Following the vote, Senator King released the following statement:

“While I personally like Congressman Mulvaney, I was extremely concerned that he refused to unequivocally state that the debt ceiling should not be used as a threat or as leverage to force action or concessions that otherwise could not be attained through the normal legislative process,” Senator King said. “Simply put, the full faith and credit of the United States is not a negotiating tool, and it should never be considered one, especially by the potential Director of the Office of Management and Budget.”

In response to a question from Senator King during Congressman Mulvaney’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Budget Committee last week, the OMB nominee declined to say that the debt ceiling should not be used as a negotiating tool. Instead, he told Senator King that he would advise the President as to both the benefits and detriments of raising the debt ceiling.

In 2011, Congress’s refusal to raise or suspend the debt ceiling in a responsible and timely manner risked defaulting on the nation’s existing legal obligations and ultimately resulted in a downgrade of the country’s credit rating by Standard and Poor’s. A 2012 report by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office found that the delays in raising the debt limit in 2011 cost taxpayers approximately $1.3 billion in that fiscal year.

Raising the debt ceiling does not allow the Treasury Department to incur new debt. It simply allows the Treasury Department to fund obligations already incurred. Congress has always acted to raise, temporarily extend, or revise the definition of the debt limit in order to ensure the U.S. government continues to meet its existing financial obligations.

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