Raskin knocks 'extreme element' within GOP: 'That's the chaos caucus'
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on Sunday referred to an “extreme element” within the GOP as “the chaos caucus,” knocking that faction over wrought negotiations involving the country's debt ceiling.
“Look, there is a MAGA extreme element within the Republican Caucus, which really wanted to plunge the country into default and economic crisis. That's the chaos caucus. I mean, these are the same people that supported Donald Trump's government's shutdown,” Raskin said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
The Maryland lawmaker said he was "distinguishing" Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from that group.
"I think he recognized and he listened to the voices on Wall Street and in corporate America who said, 'You cannot crash the economy just because you have an extreme element that is heckling you and hectoring you to do that,'” Raskin said.
“And so, in that sense, the center held briefly, because we were able to avert going over the cliff, but we should never come remotely close to that again,” he said. Raskin also said he gives Biden credit for the bipartisan deal.
After months of stalemate, then tensions and negotiations, Biden and McCarthy agreed on a deal to put before Congress. The bill passed the House and Senate amid the looming threat of default, narrowing avoiding the Treasury's deadline. Biden signed the legislation on Saturday.