GOP senator rejects Jamie Dimon's call to end debt limit

Sen. Mike Braun (R., Ind.) told Yahoo Finance that JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is "condoning a broken system" by suggesting eliminating the debt ceiling. Dimon told President Biden on Wednesday that he thinks the U.S. should "get rid" of the debt ceiling, arguing "we don't need to have this kind of brinksmanship every couple of years."

"Jamie wouldn't say that for his own business," said Braun. "His board of directors would get rid of him."

Senate leaders came to an agreement on Thursday morning to extend the debt limit until early December. The deal would take the immediate threat of default off the table, without resolving the core disagreement about how to increase the debt limit. Lawmakers will relive the same debate about how to deal with the debt limit in a matter of weeks.

Experts have warned about the "catastrophic" consequences of a U.S. default, leading some to suggest taking the threat entirely off the table and out of lawmakers' hands by eliminating the debt ceiling. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently said she supported legislation that would do away with the limit.

Braun argued the government should not keep borrowing and spending money, but should put reforms in place to get the debt under control.

"You shouldn't make the excuse that you can keep doing it because you can — and I think there's a point where you gotta draw the line," he said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., leaves the chamber after speaking, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. Republican and Democratic senators have edged back from a perilous standoff over lifting the nation's borrowing cap and will likely extend the deadline until December. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., leaves the chamber after speaking, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. Republican and Democratic senators have edged back from a perilous standoff over lifting the nation's borrowing cap and will likely extend the deadline until December. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) · ASSOCIATED PRESS

[Read more: What is the debt ceiling? Yahoo U. explains]

"I think Jamie and others know that there will not be a default, that something will happen like it always does before that would occur," he added. "That basically is condoning a broken system that I'm tired of making excuses for."

Braun told Yahoo Finance he will not support the short-term deal to extend the debt limit into early December.

"I'm glad they're doing it at least to get us off dead center," said Braun. "We're kicking that down the road to give I guess some room to see how you get it accomplished with not one reform being talked about in how you fix it long term."

Jessica Smith is chief political correspondent for Yahoo Finance, based in Washington, D.C.

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