President Donald Trump confirmed Thursday that the White House is considering a bailout package for the budget carrier Spirit Airlines that could include a loan of up to $500 million and an equity stake in the company for the U.S. government.
But as reports of the talks circulated, a number of prominent conservatives joined Democrats in pushing back on the idea and warned that it might prove to be a poor deal for U.S. taxpayers.
In an interview with Reuters this week, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said, “What we don’t want to do is put good money after bad, and there’s been a lot of money thrown at Spirit, and they haven’t found their way into profitability.”
“If no one else wants to buy them, why would we buy them?” he questioned.
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Republican Sen. Ted Cruz posted on X that it was “an absolutely TERRIBLE idea.”
“The TARP corporate bailouts were a huge mistake & the government doesn’t know a damn thing about running a failed budget airline (that the Biden admin killed),” Cruz wrote, referring to the Great Recession-era Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton also spoke out against the president, saying that the deal would be “not the best use of taxpayer dollars.”
“If Spirit’s creditors or other potential investors don’t think they can run it profitably coming out of its second bankruptcy in under two years, I doubt the US Government can either,” Cotton wrote on X.
When asked by a reporter about the deal Thursday, Trump said he was likely to carry through with it — and pitched the bailout as a business deal through which the government could later turn a profit by selling its stake in the company.
“I think we just buy it. And when the price of oil goes down, we’ll sell it for a profit,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
Spirit Airlines CEO Dave Davis thanked Trump following his Thursday comments, saying the company looks forward “to continuing to work with him and his Administration on a solution that protects thousands of jobs, preserves and enhances competition and helps ensure Americans continue to have access to affordable fares.”
A number of other conservatives pushed back on the president’s plan, suggesting that the deal may not work out the way he envisions.
“Taxpayers pay billions to subsidize Amtrak, even as they boast growing demand & riders,” Republican Sen. Ted Budd wrote on X. “Just as Biden’s DOJ shouldn’t have prevented Spirit Airlines from merging with viable partners, Americans shouldn’t be on the hook for another failing business as its competition thrives.”
Former Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene also criticized the administration for bailing out a company rather than using the time and resources to lower costs for Americans.
“By the way, customers rated Spirit Airlines: poor customer service, uncomfortable, non-reclining seats, and high fees for luggage,” she wrote on X. “But Spirit gets a $500 million dollar taxpayer funded bailout.”
“NOT what America voted for,” Greene later added.
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