Biden and McCarthy meet at White House amid debt ceiling fight

President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy will meet at the White House on Wednesday to discuss a range of issues, including ways to reach an agreement to raise the debt ceiling while satisfying both sides of the aisle.

The meeting between the two is the first since McCarthy accepted the gavel as Speaker of the House last month.

Ahead of the meeting, the White House released a memo written by Economic Council director Brian Dees and Office of Management and Budget director Shalanda Young outlining Biden’s plans for the conversation.

Dees and Young said that Biden “will ask Speaker McCarthy two questions.”

SPEAKER MCCARTHY RESPONSES TO BIDEN’S PUNCH TO DEBT CEILING BEFORE THEIR MEETING

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (left) and President Joe Biden

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (left) and President Joe Biden
(ap/file)

“Will the speaker adhere to the fundamental principle that the United States will never meet its financial obligations?” they wrote. “And does he agree with former presidents, including President Trump and Reagan, that it is critical to avoid teetering on the edge of the debt limit?”

Dees and Young also said Biden would ask McCarthy when House Republicans release their budget and what that entails.

Dees and Young said Biden would release the budget by March 9 and added that it was “important” that McCarthy also “commit to release the budget so the American people can see how House Republicans plan to cut the deficit.”

The White House has criticized Republicans in the House of Representatives who are pushing for significant spending cuts before agreeing to raise the government borrowing limit.

WHITE HOUSE ACCUSES GOP HOUSES of “China Empowerment” for Pushing for Spending Cuts Before Raising Debt Ceiling

The debt ceiling, which stands at $31.381 trillion and was reached nearly two weeks ago, is a legal cap on the total amount of debt the federal government can borrow to fund everything from Social Security and Medicare benefits to military salaries and tax refunds and more. . .

McCarthy and the Republicans said that now that the ceiling has been reached, it’s time to discuss a more financially responsible plan that will stop the rapid increase in public debt.

McCarthy confirmed receipt of the Dees-Young memo on Twitter on Tuesday.

“I’m not interested in political games,” McCarthy said. “I’m going to negotiate on behalf of the American people.”

McCarthy this week expressed his plans to discuss a balanced budget in person with the president, saying “every family does it, every business, every state, every county.”

“We need to sit down together, find common ground, find where we can eliminate losses, and let’s get our country back on track where we can balance and make our future brighter than ever,” McCarthy said. “We will work very closely together and I think you will find that we are more united than ever before.”

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy expressed his plans to discuss a balanced budget personally with the President, saying that "every family, every business, every state, every county does it."

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy expressed his plans to discuss a balanced budget personally with the President, saying that “every family, every business, every state, every county does it.”
(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images/File)

Biden administration drew a red line on cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and White House spokesman Andrew Bates accused Republicans of trying to cut “middle-class lifelines that Americans pay their entire lives into.”

In Sunday’s CBS News “Face the Nation” appearance, McCarthy announced for the first time that he would meet with Biden, explaining his intention to come to some sort of “reasonable” deal with the president.

Kevin McCarthy AGREES TO MEETING WITH BIDEN

“I want to find a sensible and responsible way to raise the debt ceiling, but get this runaway spending under control,” McCarthy said, adding that the country “cannot continue on this path.”

Joe Biden

Joe Biden
(Reuters/Kevin Lamarck/File)

“I don’t think there is anyone in America who disagrees that there are some wasteful spending by Washington that we can forego,” he said on the program. “I want to sit down together, work out an agreement where we can move forward to put us on a path of balance while not compromising any of our debts.”

FLASHBACK: REPUBLICANS USE INCREASED DEBT LIMIT TO OVERHAVE ENFORCEMENT PROGRAMS IF MOST TRUST

McCarthy added: “I know there is a willingness on our part to find a reasonable and responsible way to do this.”

McCarthy also said that the US “is not going to default”.

“The rational position here is to sit down, eliminate losses and put us on the path to balance,” he said.

Congress last voted to raise the debt ceiling in December 2021. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen the government is projected to be able to pay its bills by early June.

Content Source

Dallas Press News – Latest News:
Dallas Local News || Fort Worth Local News | Texas State News || Crime and Safety News || National news || Business News || Health News

texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

Related Articles

Back to top button