Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo took House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to task Tuesday for voting for a budget that would increase the deficit by $7 trillion by 2027. In theory, such robust spending should infuriate Ryan, who railed against deficits and sounded the alarm about an impending "debt crisis" during President Obama's time in office. But in the age of President Trump, Ryan is whipping up support for the debt-inducing budget — and being forced to defend his reversal.
"We're talking about out-of-control spending … leading to trillion-dollar deficits for 10 years," Bartiromo told Ryan on her show Mornings With Maria, then asked: "Tell me how you're looking at that." Ryan defended the budget by noting its mandatory spending cuts and increased funding for the military. "The domestic spending we put in here is pretty much one-time spending," he said, adding that concessions like disaster aid and infrastructure spending were necessary "to get the military budget we wanted." Ryan also complained that the deficit wouldn't have been so big if the Senate had saved money (in theory) by repealing the Affordable Care Act last summer.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Rep. Sylvester Turner dies, weeks after joining HouseSpeed Read The former Houston mayor and longtime state legislator left behind a final message for Trump: 'Don't mess with Medicaid'
-
Trump pauses Ukraine intelligence sharingSpeed Read The decision is intended to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy into peace negotiations with Vladimir Putin
-
Supreme Court rules against Trump on aid freezeSpeed Read The court rejected the president's request to freeze nearly $2 billion in payments for foreign humanitarian work
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of businessSpeed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
-
Trump's China tariffs start after Canada, Mexico pausesSpeed Read The president paused his tariffs on America's closest neighbors after speaking to their leaders, but his import tax on Chinese goods has taken effect
-
Chinese AI chatbot's rise slams US tech stocksSpeed Read The sudden popularity of a new AI chatbot from Chinese startup DeepSeek has sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor dealSpeed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine
-
Biden expected to block Japanese bid for US SteelSpeed Read The president is blocking the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons mergerSpeed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
-
Rupert Murdoch loses 'Succession' court battleSpeed Read Murdoch wanted to give full control of his empire to son Lachlan, ensuring Fox News' right-wing editorial slant
-
Bitcoin surges above $100k in post-election rallySpeed Read Investors are betting that the incoming Trump administration will embrace crypto
