Voters Want Congress to Raise the Debt Ceiling and Protect Social Programs
By Dara Burke
As the holidays approach, Congress is once again locked in a partisan battle over the national debt ceiling. Essentially, the debt ceiling is the maximum amount of money the U.S. government can borrow. In previous years (including 2021), Congress has voted to raise the ceiling to avoid defaulting on the nation’s debt and subsequently causing economic devastation. This year, a new obstacle to reaching a bipartisan agreement to raise the ceiling has arisen.
Democrats in Congress are currently making efforts to raise the federal debt ceiling before the party relinquishes control of the House in the new year. Without raising the debt ceiling, the U.S. would default on its debt and face the subsequent economic devastation. While the obvious solution would be to vote to raise the debt ceiling, Republicans have signaled that they will refuse to do so unless Democrats agree to spending cuts. According to a November Data for Progress poll, this tactic is unpopular among voters, the majority of whom support raising the debt ceiling, especially when that means protecting social programs like Social Security and Medicare.
Before learning about Republicans’ threats to slash Social Security and Medicare to reach a deal on the debt ceiling, nearly half of voters (49 percent) support Congress raising the debt ceiling. Among Democrats and Independents, 66 percent and 43 percent support raising the debt ceiling, respectively. Even 38 percent of Republican voters support this action.
When presented with the risks involved in reaching the debt ceiling, voters overwhelmingly express support for raising it, regardless of the impact on the national debt. By a +38-point margin, voters believe Congress should raise the debt ceiling in order to protect government programs. That support extends across partisanship, with 75 percent of Democrats, 59 percent of Independents, and 53 percent of Republicans in favor of raising the debt ceiling to protect Social Security and Medicare.
The Republican tactic of holding the debt ceiling hostage to force spending cuts is not popular with voters. When presented with a choice between Republicans raising the debt ceiling without cuts, forcing cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, and not raising the debt ceiling under any condition, a majority of voters (58 percent) would prefer for Republicans to raise the debt ceiling without cuts. This holds true across party lines, with 68 percent of Democrats, 57 percent of Independents, and 50 percent of Republicans in agreement.
In fact, 46 percent of voters say that it would be hypocritical of Republicans to refuse to raise the debt ceiling in this situation. That sentiment particularly resonates with Democrats, 77 percent of whom call the tactic hypocritical.
Finally, by a +16-point margin, voters support permanently eliminating the debt ceiling to prevent it from being used as a political tool. Sixty-two percent of Democrats support permanent elimination compared to 43 percent of Republicans.
Now that Republicans have retaken the House, the debt ceiling battle looms large as the end of the year approaches. While Republicans are trying to force Social Security and Medicare spending cuts, previous Data for Progress polling shows that voters strongly oppose cuts to these programs and, in fact, support their expansion. Moreover, a majority of voters support raising the debt ceiling to protect government programs, even if it means forgoing an opportunity to lower the national debt. Given the popularity of Social Security and other social programs, as well as Democrats’ trust advantage on these programs, the party should raise the salience of this issue, and should highlight its support for protecting these programs while pointing out that Republicans are not willing to do the same.
Dara Burke is an intern at Data for Progress.