NAACP warns impact of debt ceiling impasse falls on Black Americans 

NAACP’s president and CEO Derrick Johnson has issued a grave warning to Congress that an impasse in debt ceiling negotiations will have an outsized impact on Black Americans. 

The gridlock would cap spending on federal aid programs that would "disproportionately harm Black communities" Johnson said in an open letter obtained by NBC News. 

Johnson also said that talk of expanding work requirements for federal programs "must be resoundingly rejected.”

"These proposals play on racist stereotypes masquerading as sound policy," he wrote in the letter addressed to the White House and top congressional leaders on Wednesday. 

As the negotiations over raising the debt ceiling continue to stall, legislators have floated capping spending on Medicaid, Pell Grants and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

"Do not accept the false choice between triggering an utterly avoidable economic catastrophe driven by politicians; or imposing costs and new harms on Black communities," Johnson said. "We need deeper federal investments — not cuts — to ensure all Americans can thrive."

President Biden has already promised he would not consider cuts that could increase poverty for working class Americans and, on Monday, seemed to dismiss the idea of cutting SNAP funding. 

“The House Republican wish list would put a million older adults at risk of losing their food assistance and going hungry,” Biden tweeted. “Rather than push Americans into poverty, we should reduce the deficit by making sure the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share in taxes.”

Biden added Wednesday that he would not approve work requirements that could impact the “medical health needs of people.”

Still, Johnson said in his letter, leaders who have previously supported the Black Lives Matter movement now have to support Black Americans from bearing the brunt of economic disaster. 

 “The nation, especially Black America, is watching," Johnson said.