Hillary Clinton: Republicans' stance on debt ceiling plays into hands of Putin, Xi

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton argues in a new op-ed that Republicans’ stance on the debt ceiling is “playing into the hands” of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

“Today the competition between democracies and autocracies has grown more intense. And by undermining America’s credibility and the pre-eminence of the dollar, the fight over the debt ceiling plays right into the hands of Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia,” Clinton said in a guest essay, published Monday in the New York Times. 

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has “invoked the threat of Chinese competition as justification” for pushing for spending cuts in the debt limit fight, Clinton said. “The speaker is right that this debate has significant national security implications — just not the way he says.”

As the world looks to the U.S. for leadership, the former secretary of state and Democratic presidential candidate said, “congressional brinkmanship on the debt ceiling sends the opposite message to our allies and our adversaries: that America is divided, distracted and can’t be counted on.” 

Republicans have insisted on spending cuts and concessions from Democrats in exchange for the cooperation on dealing with the debt ceiling. House GOP lawmakers last week unveiled a 320-page proposal to raise the debt limit, an attempt to President Biden to the negotiating table. A vote is expected this week.

Clinton in her op-ed accused Republicans of hypocrisy, highlighting that GOP lawmakers have voted to raise the debt ceiling “with little drama when a fellow Republican is in the White House,” but have “weaponized” the debt ceiling under Democratic leadership.