TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — On Monday, Ron DeSantis made it clear how he felt about the current “cycle” of federal spending.
“In Washington, D.C., they do these cycles to just get them through the next election,” DeSantis said on Fox & Friends. “And that’s ultimately one of the reasons why they continue to fail.”
A BALANCED BUDGET
The governor, who is required by Florida’s constitution to maintain a balanced budget each year, has presided over the largest budget surplus in the state’s history. Florida’s 2021–2022 surplus was $21.8 billion – more than 21 percent above the state budget for the fiscal year.
But in contrast, DeSantis argued on Monday that the federal government is “careening toward bankruptcy.”
“Prior to this deal... our country was careening towards bankruptcy. And after this deal, our country will still be careening towards bankruptcy,” DeSantis said.
OUT-OF-CONTROL SPENDING
The federal bipartisan debt ceiling deal likely frustrates DeSantis even more now that he’s a presidential candidate who would inherit the difficult job of tempering the out-of-control spending that has become commonplace in Washington.
“To say you can do 4 trillion [dollars] of increases in the next year-and-a-half, I mean, that’s a massive amount of spending,” DeSantis said. “I think that we’ve gotten ourselves on a trajectory here – really since March of 2020, with some of the COVID spending, and totally reset the budget, and they’re sticking with that. And I think that’s just going to be totally inadequate to get us in a better spot.”
On Saturday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and President Biden agreed to a plan to raise the debt ceiling for two years and add new spending caps during the same period. But the tentative agreement still needs House and Senate approval to avoid a federal default.
