House Speaker Kevin McCarthy accused the White House of backtracking in talks on raising the US debt limit and said he did not expect any progress until President Joe Biden returned to Washington from the G7 summit in Japan.
“I don’t think we’ll be able to move forward until the president can come home,” McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol on Saturday. “Just from last day to today they moved backwards. They actually want to spend more money than we’ve been spending this year.”
McCarthy’s comments underlined a renewed shift in tone after the White House suggested earlier on Saturday that Republicans were negotiating in bad faith. The clock is ticking as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the US may lose the ability to pay all its bills by June 1st.
Biden indicated earlier on Saturday that he remains confident the US government can avoid a catastrophic default.
spending cuts
Republicans and the White House are battling over spending cuts, which Republican lawmakers are calling for as the price for raising the federal borrowing limit.
“We have to spend less than we are spending this year,” McCarthy said, repeating his main demand.
Lawmakers are stepping up their attacks on each other as the talks stall — though there were signs of progress earlier in the week.
“I think Bernie Sanders and the socialist wing of their party have had a real influence on the president, especially with him out of the country,” McCarthy said.
White House press secretary Karen Jean-Pierre said at a news conference in Hiroshima, Japan, on Saturday that there are “real differences between the two sides.” Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said House Republicans were “holding the American economy hostage,” and described the GOP caucus as being beholden to members of the right.
For a deal to work, the cuts would have to be big enough to appease conservative Republicans, who supported McCarthy’s rhetoric on the condition that he make serious spending reforms without raising taxes or cutting military spending and veterans’ benefits.
But the plan should also be palatable to Democrats, who hold a majority in the Senate and will likely need to provide between 50 and 100 votes in the House. Few in the president’s party want to scale back domestic programs, especially without corresponding cuts to the Pentagon budget or closing tax loopholes used by the rich and big corporations.
The desire to wait for Biden may be driven by a Republican belief that the president will ultimately decide to sacrifice progressive priorities to defuse the biggest threat to the economy ahead of his campaign. The president has de facto reneged on his pledge not to negotiate a debt ceiling.
The fight over debt reduction, which could lead to the US defaulting on its payments for the first time ever, threatens to wreak havoc on the global economy. It cast a shadow over Biden’s foreign trip, and the president decided earlier to cut short his travels in order to return to Washington for the final stages of negotiations.
Republicans’ withdrawal from talks on Friday in Washington dashed hopes that negotiators were close to reaching an agreement to raise the borrowing ceiling, sending stocks tumbling.
McCarthy had hoped to reach agreement at least on a blueprint for a deal this weekend for a House vote on the legislation next week.
The Senate left Washington for the Memorial Day recess, but the Senators were told to prepare to return in 24 hours if necessary.
Biden will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the G7 summit on Sunday, according to a White House statement. He is due back in Washington late Sunday.
— with assistance from Justin Sinek and Kylie Lenz.