East Arizona News

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Representative David Schweikert (AZ-01) delivered a speech on the House Floor last week to discuss the potential impact of current federal spending and borrowing practices on future generations and retirement benefits for working Americans.

Rep. Schweikert emphasized concerns about rampant federal spending and its effect on the U.S. economy, stating, “Last week, and the week before that, I came here and tried to walk through a concept of how fragile we are because of our borrowing — the amount of insatiable borrowing we go through." He highlighted the influence of the bond market on national fiscal policies, suggesting that interest rate fluctuations could significantly affect national debt obligations.

Addressing what he termed as wasteful spending practices, Rep. Schweikert remarked, “Ok, first thing I need to walk through [is] [the federal] deficit over the last 12 months [was] $1.8 trillion.” He criticized the Inflation Reduction Act's financial implications and noted that much government expenditure is borrowed rather than funded by tax receipts.

Rep. Schweikert also discussed interest rates' effects on maintaining the dollar as a reserve currency: “Our model at today’s interest rates, we’re at $3.7 trillion baseline borrowing... God forbid this year or next year we go into a true recession.” He warned that raising interest rates could push national debt toward 300% of GDP within 30 years if unchecked.

Congressman David Schweikert serves on the House Ways and Means Committee and is currently Chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee. He is also Vice Chairman of the bicameral Joint Economic Committee and holds leadership roles in several caucuses including Blockchain Caucus, Telehealth Caucus, Singapore Caucus, and others focused on access to capital and credit.