The debt ceiling discussion lasted an hour, according to Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), but President Joe Biden has refuted a number of his assertions.
In the meantime, our staff will meet today and every day until then, according to Biden, who spoke to reporters in the Roosevelt Room on Tuesday.
Biden Conditions For Budget Discussions
Biden also mentioned that he was thinking about utilizing the 14th Amendment to address the debt ceiling dilemma, but he was worried that it would need to be contested and that without a delay, the situation would remain the same.
The meeting, according to Biden, was productive, but he reiterated that he was open to a separate discussion about budget and spending priorities, but not under the threat of default and that Republicans have not yet specified which programs they would eliminate.
The president also acknowledged he is open to a temporary extension and recouping COVID-19 funds, contradicting White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
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Prioritizing Negotiations Over Default
The President continued by saying that he believed McCarthy will try to do what he says, but that he did not know how much leeway McCarthy thinks he has, implying that the speaker was not always “measured.
The possibility that Biden might not attend the Group of Seven leader meeting in Japan and the Quad summit in Australia next week was raised by the President. Despite the fact that it is the only item of importance on the schedule, Biden replied, “I’m still committed.”
McCarthy told reporters at the White House during the meeting that he didn’t see any fresh movement in their positions on a clean debt ceiling bill and caving into requests for spending cutbacks in exchange for lifting the nation’s borrowing limit.
After the meeting, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that the staffs of the so-called big four will get together as early as tonight, certainly tomorrow to see where we can come to an agreement on the budget and appropriations process before their principals meet to discuss the debt ceiling again on Friday.
McCarthy’s proposal has not a single Democratic supporter, and it gets us nowhere because you have to negotiate to get this done, according to Schumer. Put default out of the picture and let’s pick up the appropriations process negotiations.
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