The White House says President Joe Biden “looks forward” to sitting down with new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to discuss a range of topics, including perhaps the thorniest challenge confronting Washington this year: raising the nation’s debt limit.
One hitch: That statement Friday came with no actual invitation to the White House, and no date nor time for a meeting.
Rather, the White House again emphasized that Biden is not willing to entertain policy concessions in exchange for lifting the debt limit, which is the nation’s borrowing authority. The U.S. bumped up against that limit Thursday, and the Treasury Department has deployed “extraordinary measures” to stave off a potential default for at least a few more months.
“Like the president has said many times, raising the debt ceiling is not a negotiation; it is an obligation of this country and its leaders to avoid economic chaos,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in the statement released Friday evening. “Congress has always done it, and the president expects them to do their duty once again. That is not negotiable.”
The top two Democrats in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, will meet with Biden on Tuesday, the White House said.
McCarthy, R-Calif., and his new majority in the House have said they will push changes, such as overhauls to entitlement programs, in order for Congress to raise the debt limit. The promise revived the prospects of a major fiscal standoff like the one in summer 2011, which prompted the first downgrade on a portion of the federal government’s AAA bond rating by Standard & Poor’s.
“President Biden: I accept your invitation to sit down and discuss a responsible debt ceiling increase to address irresponsible government spending,” McCarthy said on Twitter earlier Friday, after Jean-Pierre said at a briefing that she had no date to share about a meeting between Biden and the speaker.
On the Republican proposals, Jean-Pierre said Biden “looks forward to learning more about those plans.”
His treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, also urged lawmakers to act expeditiously on increasing the limit, saying the Treasury Department does not collect enough in taxes to cover the spending that Congress has authorized.
“It’s utterly essential that Congress raise the debt ceiling, and this has been the position of every treasury secretary,” Yellen said told reporters while traveling in Africa. “I would just say that really we cannot negotiate over whether or not we’re going to honor our obligations.”
(AP)
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2 Responses
It is entirely reasonable to demand Congress to service the debt their institution authorized to spend.
But, as much as there was extra spending or under-collection by Presidential decree, not authorized by Congress, say not collecting student loan fees or building a wall or destroying a wall, whatever, then, the Congress does not have to support that. In fact, it will be going against their oath of office, as they are responsible for the budget.
This is like a child having a secondary card on your account and spending on something you did not authorize. If you can’t take the card back, stop paying the interest and let the card be declined.
McCarthy has the advantage here since he’s younger, and ability to hold your breath “until you turn blue” correlates positively with youthfulness. Biden could probably find someone younger (AOC?) to stand in. The now infamous Mr. Santos might be a good stand-in for the Republicans since he is otherwise of no use and should be able to hold his breath for a long time. The Democrats could threaten to have Biden hold his breath until he turns blue, but they might not be able to revive him and then Mrs. Harris would become President (was she chosen so that no one would consider impeaching or killing the President?).
It does there is no precedent for a national legislature to be so immature on doing something they are constitutionally required to do, and the Constitution doesn’t allow the government the option of renouncing or defaulting on debts.
The Republicans can refuse to support outlandish budget proposals from the Democrats, but once enacted the government is legally required to pick up the tab, either by raising taxes or borrowing (or printing) the money.