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Thirty-two trillion dollars—it's a colossal sum, burdening every American taxpayer. It's a tangible reflection of the prodigious debt accumulated over decades of reckless spending. The ramifications of our bloated national debt are far-reaching, felt in the daily lives of hardworking families crushed under the weight of relentless inflation. The prices of everyday necessities continue to rise, eroding purchasing power and placing an intolerable burden on America's shoulders. This staggering figure ought to jolt us from our complacency, send shivers down our spines, and compel us to confront the dire consequences of our own fiscal irresponsibility.

The "high-stakes game of chicken" has become a cliche headline in a town plagued by partisan paralysis. As we approach the "x" date concerning the debt ceiling, the lazy platitude has a scheduled appearance on your notification screen. But the comparison is incomplete. A game of chicken would imply the two parties hurtling toward each other, with the full faith and credit of the United States at the center.

Senators Mike Lee (R-UT), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Ted Budd (R-NC), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Rick Scott (R-FL), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John Cornyn (R-TX), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Mike Braun (R-IN), and Ron Johnson (R-WI) sent a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR), expressing concerns over "unprecedented attacks" on the Supreme Court, including Sen. Wyden’s April 24, 2023 letter to Harlan Crow requesting tax return information from a private citizen as an attempt to further smear Justice Clarence Thomas and to bully the Supreme Court into acting as “a super legislature to implement progressive policies.”

On October 11, 1991, then-Judge Clarence Thomas made the following statement before this committee during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings: Justice Thomas described his 1991 confirmation proceedings as “a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate, rather than hung from a tree.”