As a debt ceiling deadline looms, President Joe Biden is still refusing to come to the negotiating table with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy about a path forward to cut spending while increasing the debt limit in order to avoid default.
Last week, McCarthy officially introduced a Republican plan to raise the limit by $1.5 trillion in exchange for a number of federal spending caps and clawing back billions in unspent COVID-19 funding.
For 77 days, President Biden has ignored the impending debt ceiling crisis.
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) April 19, 2023
Instead of leaving town today to give a speech, Biden should sit down with me, find agreement, and avoid the prospect of his administration bumbling into the first default in our nation’s history.
President Biden’s reckless spending created record inflation, made us more dependent on China, and undermined Social Security and Medicare. Since he's been in hiding, House Republicans will take action by passing a responsible debt limit increase. https://t.co/YS11O6kqtK
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) April 19, 2023
Over the weekend McCarthy made an appearance on Fox News to explain the current negotiation status with the White House.
Why won't the president sit down to negotiate a responsible debt limit increase? What is he afraid of? pic.twitter.com/dM4qYPTdzr
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) April 24, 2023
But it isn't just Republicans who are encouraging Biden to get to the table. Democrats are warning Biden that he's playing with fire and needs to find some common ground on a solution.
“America is facing a historic economic crisis brought on by an abject failure to address our exploding national debt, chronic inflation, a looming recession, and the more immediate need to raise the debt ceiling. Our elected leaders must stop with the political games, work together and negotiate a compromise. Instead, it has been more than 78 days since President Biden last met with Speaker McCarthy. This signals a deficiency of leadership, and it must change. The fact is we are long past time for our elected leaders to sit down and discuss how to solve this impending debt ceiling crisis," Democratic Senator Joe Manchin released in a statement.
“While it is reasonable to sincerely disagree with any specific debt ceiling approach, we will achieve a historic default, and the economic whirlwind which follows, if President Biden continues to refuse to even negotiate a reasonable and commonsense compromise," he continued. To that end, I applaud Speaker McCarthy for putting forward a proposal that would prevent default and rein in federal spending. While I do not agree with everything proposed, the fact of the matter is that it is the only bill actually moving through Congress that would prevent default. For the sake of the country, I urge President Biden to come to the table, propose a plan for real and substantive spending cuts and deficit reduction, and negotiate now. Failing to do so may score political points with the extremes of the Democratic Party, but make no mistake, it will be the American people – and our nation – who will pay the ultimate price if partisan politics continues to define our politics and policies.”
During an interview with CNN, Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar piled on.
"Should President Biden negotiate with Speaker McCarthy to avert a default?"
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 23, 2023
Democrat Senator Amy Klobuchar: "Of course President Biden should sit down with Speaker McCarthy" pic.twitter.com/OUS7701VYM
Meanwhile, the White House is ripped McCarthy's proposal and accusing Republicans of "attacking" Americans.
The current U.S. debt sits at $32 trillion.