House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) wrote to President Joe Biden last week to urge him to start negotiations about raising the U.S. debt limit.
Despite Republican demands for expenditure cuts to accompany any increase in the debt ceiling, Biden has insisted on raising the debt ceiling without such cuts, per NBC News. The two sides failed to reach a resolution during their initial February 1 meeting at the White House and have not convened to discuss the issue since.
The letter from McCarthy included a list of suggested regulatory reforms and spending cutbacks that Republican members would want to see in any debt legislation. McCarthy wrote about his concern that the U.S. economy is in jeopardy without a decision on the debt limit.
“With each passing day, I am incredibly concerned that you are putting an already fragile economy in jeopardy by insisting upon your extreme position of refusing to negotiate any meaningful changes to out-of-control spending alongside an increase of the debt limit,” read the letter. “Your position — if maintained — could prevent America from meeting its obligations and hold dire ramifications for the entire nation.”
In response to McCarthy’s letter, the White House urged the GOP to provide a comprehensive budget proposal and to support a raise in the debt ceiling without restrictions.
“It’s time for Republicans to stop playing games, agree to pass a clean debt ceiling bill, and quit threatening to wreak havoc on our economy. And if they want to have a conversation about our nation’s economic and fiscal future, it’s time for them to put out a budget – as the president has done with his detailed plan to grow the economy, lower costs, and reduce the deficit by nearly $3 trillion,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, per Bloomberg.
In response to McCarthy’s call for debt ceiling talks, Biden urged Republicans to present a public budget proposal before they depart for their two-week Easter break. The request was communicated to McCarthy in a letter from the White House, which was also shared on social media.
McCarthy and Biden would need to reach a compromise to avert a potential U.S. debt default, and another agreement must be reached later in the year to avoid a government shutdown.
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC) believes that, despite the lack of conversation at the current moment, an agreement will be made.
“We’ll present a budget. We’re going to present the debt-limit case. If [Biden] shuts the government down, it’s going to be on the Biden administration — it won’t be on us,” said Norman during an interview, per NBC News. “There will be gnashing of teeth, but that’s a good thing.”
