FACT SHEET: What’s At Stake for Georgians if Republicans Refuse to Raise Debt Ceiling

Millions of Georgians could lose pay, assistance due to GOP political games

With Senate Republicans threatening to turn the long-standing bipartisan tradition of raising the debt ceiling to keep America’s government operating into a facetious political game, the GOP is putting millions of Georgians’ livelihoods at risk. If Republicans continue their partisan grandstand, the GOP will cost America’s economy six million jobs, wipe out $15 trillion in wealth, and send the unemployment rate surging to roughly nine percent from around five percent.

In Georgia, millions of Social Security recipients, military members, veterans, federal employees, and families receiving food assistance will bear the consequences of Republicans’ government shutdown. While Georgia Senators Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff are fighting to end the partisan bickering and deliver historic investments in infrastructure, child care, and the economy, the Senate GOP is putting politics over essential benefits Georgians need to survive.

WHAT’S AT STAKE FOR GEORGIA

SOCIAL SECURITY RECIPIENTS

• Over 1.8 million Georgians receive monthly Social Security benefits from the federal government. However, if Senate Republicans continue to refuse to raise the debt ceiling, these payments will not go out, leaving many of our state’s most vulnerable population in financial danger.

VETERANS

• More than 697,000 veterans live in Georgia, including over 186,000 who receive disability compensation and about 10,000 who receive pension as of 2017. But if the Senate GOP ultimately puts their partisanship ahead of the people of Georgia, veterans could see compensation or pension payments lapse.

FEDERAL EMPLOYEES

• About 72,000 Georgians are civil servants for the federal government, and Republicans will block these Georgians’ income if they continue to sit on the bench and cause the government to shut down.

MILITARY MEMBERS

• Georgia is home to about 69,000 active duty military members, the fifth-most in the country. But if Republicans shut down the government, they’ll cut our troops off from pay until the debt ceiling is raised.

FOOD ASSISTANCE RECIPIENTS

• As of March 2021, over 847,000 households in Georgia were receiving food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — a rise of almost 25 percent from 2019. Yet, as our state continues to grapple with the economic consequences of the virus, Senate Republicans are showing that they would rather keep Georgia families in need of help from putting food on the table than put aside political games to raise the debt ceiling.

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