McCarthy urges Biden to invite him to White House talks on the debt limit, outlines first priorities for spending cuts, including labor demands on welfare and bringing spending back to pre-pandemic levels
- McCarthy and the president are at a standoff as Biden insists he will sit down with the Republican speaker once he releases his budget
- GOP budget expected in April
- ‘Mister. President, simply put, you’re on the clock… Please have your team contact me by the end of this week to schedule our next meeting.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy wrote a letter to President Biden smacking him for being “off the hook” on the debt limit negotiations and urging his team to hold a meeting between the two by the end of the week to agree on both.
McCarthy and Biden held their first much-anticipated meeting almost two months ago, yielding few results other than the pair agreeing to sit down again and reach an agreement to raise the nation’s credit limit by 31, $4 trillion to discuss.
“With each passing day, I am incredibly concerned that you are jeopardizing an already fragile economy by persisting in your extreme position of refusing to negotiate significant changes,” McCarthy wrote in the letter.
‘Mister. President, simply put, you’re on the clock… Please have your team contact me by the end of this week to schedule our next meeting.’
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy wrote a letter to President Biden smacking him for being “off the hook” on the debt limit negotiations and urging his team to hold a meeting between the two by the end of the week to agree on both
Biden and McCarthy met for a lunch in Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day, but have not met on the budget for nearly two months
The speaker outlined four broad priorities for cutting spending to “pre-inflationary levels and limiting off-year growth,” reclaiming unspent Covid-19 funds from stimulus bills, strengthening labor requirements for social programs like SNAP and Medicaid, and taking action to increase energy production and secure border.
McCarthy and the president are at a standoff as Biden insists he will sit down with the Republican speaker once he releases his budget. The Republicans have announced that they will present their budget in April.
“Why do we need to have a budget to sit down and talk about the debt ceiling?” McCarthy asked during the GOP retreat in Orlando last week.
Other complications include Biden’s call for a clean debt ceiling hike and McCarthy’s insistence that he will not allow the debt ceiling to be raised without spending cuts.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned the US could default if Congress doesn’t act on the debt ceiling by June.
“House Republicans agree that the best way to reduce the national debt is to limit spending,” McCarthy said. “I’m willing to sit down to discuss a variety of opportunities that would yield trillions of dollars in savings.”
The White House released its $6.8 trillion draft budget earlier this month.
Assistant White House Press Secretary Andrew Bates referred to an earlier statement by Karine Jean-Pierre in response to McCarthy’s letter:
“It’s time Republicans stopped playing games, agreed to a clean debt ceiling and stopped wrecking our economy. And if you want to have a conversation about our nation’s economic and fiscal future, it’s time for you to budget.’