Democrats sound off on why they are rejecting a Republican plan to cut federal spending

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What are Democrats' plans to reduce $32 trillion in national debt?

Democrats on Capitol Hill told Fox News their thoughts on the Republican-backed bill to raise the debt ceiling and cut federal spending over the course of 10 years.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Democrats on Capitol Hill criticized Republican legislation aimed at reducing the nation's $32 trillion debt, with some blaming former President Donald Trump for the country's massive bills.

"It’s a horrible, horrible bill," Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts told Fox News. "It is cruel, it is mean, and this whole game that they are playing with paying our nation’s bills represents an all-time high in recklessness and stupidity."

"This is not a conversation, this is a ransom note," he added.

WHAT ARE DEMOCRATS' PLANS TO REDUCE $32,000,000,000,000 IN NATIONAL DEBT?

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House Republicans, in a 217-215 vote, passed a bill to slash spending and raise the debt limit in an effort to curb a looming debt crisis. 

The Limit, Save, Grow Act will save taxpayers $4.8 trillion over a 10-year period, according to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. He said it will claw back unspent COVID-19 money, add work requirements for certain handouts and help the supply chain. The bill is in stark opposition to President Biden’s hope to have a clean increase to the debt ceiling.

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Rep. Jimmy Panetta of California called the bill "not serious."

"It’s not going to get anywhere," he said. "I hope to be able to get to a point where all of us can come to the table and make sure all options are on the table."

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., told Fox News that raising the debt ceiling is the "patriotic thing to do." (Fox News)

Rep. Ro Khanna of California said that we "can’t hold the country hostage on the issue of whether we pay our credit card bill."

"In America, we pay our bills," he added. "It’s the patriotic thing to do."

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Rep. Jason Crow stressed the importance of avoiding default.

"I’ve been worried all along by the threat of a default, it would be devastating for our economy, it would lead to tens of thousands of Americans losing their jobs and it would cost us billions of dollars," the Colorado Democrat said. "So that should not be an option."

Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., told Fox News he is concerned about Ameicans losing their jobs if the government defaults by not raising the debt ceiling. (Fox News)

Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin said the Republican bill doesn’t have a chance. 

"All we’ve really seen from Republicans are bills that are going nowhere," he said. "I’ll be happy through the appropriations process to have those conversations."

Several Democrats pointed to spending during the Trump presidency.

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"They had no problem increasing the national debt when Donald Trump was president to pay for the trillions of dollars that his tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires added onto the debt," McGovern said. 

Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., told Fox News that President Biden’s budget plan will reduce the national debt. (Fox News)

Khanna told Fox News that Democrats know how to bring down the deficit.

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"The last president who had a balanced budget was a Democrat, Bill Clinton, and then we had the Trump tax cuts, the Bush tax cuts," he said, adding that "these overseas wars, that’s what ballooned the deficit."

Khanna also said the Democrats' plan to avoiding growing the debt is to "get out of a lot of these overseas wars" and to "have people who are very wealthy to pay the same tax as firefighters and teachers on their Social Security."

Click here to hear more about what Democrats think about the national debt and debt ceiling.

Ramiro Vargas contributed to the accompanying video.