President Joe Biden and GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy sat down for their first one-on-one meeting of more than an hour at the White House on Wednesday after weeks of shadowboxing over federal spending and the national debt limit.
The sit-down is touching gloves for both sides in this era of divided government, and the negotiations will continue into the summer. For now, Democrats remain adamant that Republicans should not hold the debt limit — as well as the full faith and credit of the U.S. government — hostage. He noted that Republicans raised the debt limit three times under former President Donald Trump without asking for it.
Republicans demand major spending cuts to address debt in exchange for raising the so-called “debt ceiling,” but they are coy about which program they ‘d like to cut. Some have proposed vague cuts to discretionary spending, while others have suggested that it is up to Biden and the White House to identify spending limits.
“We Democrats have a plan – raise the debt ceiling without brinksmanship or hostage-taking as we have done before,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) said in a speech on Friday. “Speaker McCarthy doesn’t have a plan. So, he’s not really negotiating. And the clock is ticking.”
McCarthy told reporters after the meeting that he and Biden “agreed to continue the conversation” on the debt ceiling.
“I think our first meeting was a good meeting,” McCarthy said. “We both have different perspectives on this, but I think it was a good meeting.”
The federal government has been fighting legal limits on how much it can borrow to cover costs. The Treasury Department has estimated it can keep paying the bill until at least June. If Congress doesn’t act, the government will default — an unprecedented scenario that could lead to a financial crisis and a costly recession.
Biden doesn’t have much of a relationship with McCarthy, the California Republican who voted to throw out Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election based on false claims of fraud. Still, speaking at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in New York City on Tuesday, Biden called McCarthy is a “decent man” who made “off the wall” promises for Republicans to become speaker, including a fight over the debt ceiling.
Biden said he doesn’t know “what’s going on in this Republican Party,” estimating that 30% of the GOP continues to stand with former President Donald Trump even after the January 6, 2021, uprising in the US Capitol. Trump, who is seeking another term in the White House in 2024, urged Republicans to remain steadfast and use the debt limit to extract maximum concessions from Democrats despite the risk of defaulting on the debt.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.