Alabama’s Republican congressional delegation is “between a rock and a hard place” by supporting President-elect Donald Trump’s call to eliminate the federal debt ceiling for at least the next two years, said former Republican Congressman and House Freedom Caucus member Mo Brooks.

Brooks, once an alley with Trump before the two had a falling out during the 2022 U.S. Senate campaign, praised the 38 Republicans he said were “brave enough to vote for America” despite what he said was a political threat by Trump to support primary challengers against them in future elections.

The 38 Republicans, none of whom are from Alabama, joined 197 Democrats Thursday night in defeating a budget bill backed by Trump that would have removed any limits toward incurring additional federal debt for the next two years. By some estimates, that plan would have added $4 trillion to an already rising federal debt load.

“Those who understand the threat of a national bankruptcy know that voting for an unlimited amount of new debt is horrible for America’s future,” Brooks said in an interview with AL.com Friday.

“But they also know that Donald Trump can take them out if he wants to. So, I understand why all of them voted for a financially irresponsible unlimited debt ceiling, but I wish they would put America first.”

Brooks’ comments come after he issued several tweets Thursday critical of Trump’s debt ceiling plans including one in which he names Alabama’s GOP delegation – U.S. Reps. Robert Aderholt, R-Hayleyville; Mike Rogers, R-Saks; Jerry Carl, R-Mobile; Barry Moore, R-Enterprise, and Gary Palmer, R-Hoover – for supporting the revised Continuing Resolution that eliminates the debt ceiling.

The defeated Trump-backed bill represented a stripped-down revision of the 1,500-page budget plan that seemingly had bipartisan support earlier in the week. But that plan fell apart amid criticism from Trump and his allies, including businessman Elon Musk.

“Those 38 who killed that unlimited debt bill yesterday showed tremendous patriotism and, unfortunately, none are from Alabama,” Brooks said.

Alabama GOP reacts

Few of the lawmakers could be reached for comment in reaction to Brook’s tweet on Friday, though Moore’s staff released the following statement:

“Though this CR is a necessary solution to provide immediate support to our farmers and disaster victims who are facing serious challenges, it also highlights the need for accountability in our budgeting process.”

He then praised Trump as well as Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy – co-heads of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency – “for their efforts in killing the initial 1,500-page monstrosity filled with the swamp’s woke and wasteful spending requests.”

“This new deal delivers essential aid to those who put food on the tables of American families,” Moore said.

“We cannot continue to let political games obstruct help for our producers and those recovering from natural disasters. It’s time we start funding our government on time and one bill at a time to prevent backroom deals that lead to unnecessary spending.”

Aderholt, in a tweet, said he supported the new CR plan because “it avoids the problems of the previous version, it has President Trump’s approval, and it prevents a government shutdown at Christmas.”

Carl posed for a picture on X with a thumbs down while holding the 1,500-page bill that included a picture of the Grinch on its cover.

Fiscal concerns

Republican opposition to the revised bill was led by Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy, also a member of the House Freedom Caucus.

Roy described the bill on X as a $4 trillion increase to the debt ceiling without any structural reforms. Trump has threated a primary challenge against Roy.

“I am absolutely sickened by a party that campaigns on fiscal responsibility and has the temerity to go forward to the American people and say you think this is fiscally responsible. It is absolutely ridiculous,” Roy said during a House floor speech.

Said Brooks, “By and large, Chip Roy gets the magnitude of this debt threat to the United States and individual American families.”

Brooks said the increase of the debt ceiling, or a removal of it, will hit American’s wallets, claiming the individual impact could be around $100,000.

For a family four, Brooks said, “their share of the national debt is more like $400,000.”

He added, “Unfortunately, a lot of voters brain synapse just don’t seem to click right and they don’t connect America’s debt with their individual personal liability. It should be frightening.”

The debt ceiling is set by Congress as a limit on how much the federal government can borrow. The last time the issue was addressed was in 2023, when Congress suspended the debt ceiling until Jan. 1, 2025.

Trump will come into office on Jan. 20, with a legislative to-do list that includes securing the border and extending the provisions of his tax cuts enacted in 2017.

A fight over the debt ceiling is viewed by some as frustrating for the incoming president’s efforts to pass through his legislative priorities.

The current debt ceiling is $31.4 trillion, and increasing it provides a politically tricky situation for lawmakers, especially Republican fiscal conservatives, who have expressed frustrations over increase the debt before.

“Donald Trump, in 2015 and 2016, promised to pay off all of America’s debt and, instead, he did the exact opposite increasing America’s debt by more than $7 trillion in a mere four years,” Brooks said, calling the first Trump Administration’s approach toward the federal debt as, “far and away the worst financial irresponsibility of any president in American history.”

Past positions

In Alabama, the support for the Continuing Resolution on Thursday represents a change on their position toward raising the debt limit during the Biden Administration.

In 2021, the entire Alabama GOP delegation voted 8-1 against a $2.5 trillion increase in the federal debt ceiling, prompting some strong statements from the Republicans.

Palmer, that year, described raising the federal debt limit a “national security threat,” that undermined the “security and well-being of the current and future generations,” according to comments made in a Yellowhammer article.

Moore, also in a 2021 Yellowhammer story, said he expressed support for “sensible spending reform” to address the growing national debt.

“I was taught growing up that when you’re in debt and your house is falling apart, you don’t get another credit card to splurge on fancy restaurants and luxurious vacations,” he said at the time.

“Instead of addressing the many crises facing our nation, including the border, crime, and inflation, Pelosi is asking taxpayers to write a blank check to the Biden administration to pay for its wildly expensive socialist spending spree.”

Moore also said on the campaign trail earlier this year, ahead of defeating Carl in the March 5 GOP primary for the 1st congressional district seat, that he does not support federal funding resolutions because of the ballooning federal deficit.

In May 2023, Palmer, Moore and Strong voted against the Fiscal Responsibility Act. It passed the House on a 314-117 vote, and represented the last time the debt ceiling was raised through a congressional vote.

“The so-called ‘Fiscal Responsibility Act’ promises to saddle Americans with $4 trillion in new debt and kick the can down the road for two more years, ” Moore said at the time.

“This is a massive disappointment and a far cry from what Republicans passed in the Limit, Save, Grow Act. We must stand up to the Biden Administration and make stronger reforms if we want to protect our children and grandchildren from generations of burdensome debt.”

Strong said he felt conservatives should have benefitted more from suspending the debt limit.

“I believe that conservatives could have gotten more in exchange for suspending Biden’s debt ceiling for two years,” he said. “We must put America first — and for that reason, I could not support this bill.”

Brooks, while in office and campaigning against Britt in 2022, was vocal opponent toward increasing debt and once ripped into former Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby — the former chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee in the Senate — blaming him for being the person most responsible for adding to the nation’s debt. Britt was once Shelby’s chief of staff.

Brooks, since he lost the U.S. Senate primary to Britt in 2022, has been critical of Trump.

The two had once been allies, with Brooks serving as a prominent supporter of Trump in 2020, over concerns about election integrity during that year’s presidential contest and ahead of the riot at the U.S. Capitol.

The relationship turned sour after Trump pulled his endorsement of Brooks, giving it to Britt instead, months after a fallout from a 2021 rally in Cullman in which Brooks suggested Trump supporters should move on from the 2020 election.