Senator Murray Slams Republican Hostage Taking as Credit Rating Agencies Warns of Credit Rating Downgrade

WASHINGTON, May 26 -- Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, issued the following statement on May 25, 2023:

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U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement in response to Fitch Ratings and DBRS Morningstar separately placing the United States' AAA credit rating on watch, indicating the agencies could downgrade the United States' credit rating if lawmakers fail to meet their basic obligation to raise the debt limit and avoid default in the face of Republican hostage taking.

"Extreme Republicans have not been coy about what they are putting the country through--with everyone from Donald Trump to House Republican leaders saying the quiet part out loud: they are holding the U.S. economy hostage to extract funding cuts and other partisan concessions. We are at the brink of default and economic catastrophe for one reason and one reason only: House Republicans playing with fire and refusing to meet their basic constitutional obligation to pay our bills--just like Congress did three times on a bipartisan basis under President Trump.

"And now, the AAA credit rating of the United States is at serious risk of being downgraded--we've seen this movie before in 2011, and this entire spectacle is self-inflicted by House Republicans. Every American should be furious at the political games House Republicans are playing with their livelihoods and our entire economy."

In 2011, S&P gave its first-ever credit downgrade to the US, cutting its rating to AA+. More than a decade later, that agency has still not restored the AAA rating. Senator Murray is a former chair of the Senate Budget Committee and previously negotiated the 2013 Murray-Ryan Budget agreement.

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