DeLaney comments on national debt posturing by Statehouse GOP: ‘Let’s get serious’

Today, Feb. 16, Indiana State Comptroller Elise Nieshalla and the Braun Administration held a press conference with numerous state officials and lawmakers about passing a resolution to raise awareness about the National Debt.  

State Rep. Ed DeLaney (D-Indianapolis) issued the following statement in response:  

“Indiana Republicans have taken a page out of the old GOP playbook and decided to declare their focus on the national debt. It is encouraging to see that this issue still troubles my friends across the aisle. I was beginning to think that they had abandoned their concern for the national debt as they continuously celebrate the so-called ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ (BBB) that will increase the national debt by $3.4 trillion while depriving many Hoosiers of health care and food assistance.  

“While Indiana Republicans offered lip service today about lowering the national debt, they have taken steps to import this fiscally irresponsible policy by bringing Indiana in line with the excessive cuts under the BBB. Under the bill passed this summer, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the national debt will exceed $52 trillion in the next decade – over $10 trillion above what the bill accounted for. As of October 2025, the national debt was accumulating at the fastest rate in history outside of the international emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“Passing down a $52 trillion national debt to our children and grandchildren is irresponsible and unsustainable. Let’s get serious and prioritize popular programs that help Hoosiers instead of tax cuts for the mega-rich. 

“Let our seven Republican congress members and two U.S. Senators get to work on the debt they vote on.”