As House Republicans are teeing up a vote this week on a debt ceiling plan that includes $4.5 trillion in spending cuts, some Democrats in Congress are calling on President Joe Biden to restart negotiations with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., at least on the federal budget.
“He should negotiate on the budget. That is the place to negotiate, and they should start those negotiations now,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “Not using the American people and their mortgages as hostage because right now, you’ve got to simply make clear, we’re going to avoid default and get this behind us.
“We pay our bills,” Klobuchar added, specifying that budget negotiations should be separate from raising the debt ceiling.
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McCarthy: Biden is ‘putting the country in default’
McCarthy has criticized Biden for refusing discussions on raising the debt ceiling and cuts in the federal budget.
“For more than 80 days it’s been since I sat down with the president on Feb. 1 to negotiate, to work through this, and he’s ignored it,” McCarthy said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
“I’m beginning to wonder about the words that he says and the thoughts that he’s using. Because the idea that he won’t even negotiate for more than 80 days, he is now putting the country in default,” McCarthy said, pinning a potential default on Biden. “We are the only ones being responsible and sensible about this.”
Exclusive: White House says McCarthy debt ceiling plan would kill thousands of green jobs in GOP districts
Klobuchar’s call for Biden to negotiate strictly on the budget differs from the stance of her colleague Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.
Manchin applauded McCarthy’s bill last week despite some of his own reservations about the proposed spending cuts. He specifically called on Biden to begin negotiations on the debt limit.
“I applaud Speaker McCarthy for putting forward a proposal that would rein in federal spending.” Manchin said in a statement. “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.”
House Democrats call on Biden to restart discussions
As the reality of a potential default nears, some House Democrats have started to publicly urge Biden to restart negotiations with McCarthy.
“I don’t think there’s any harm in the two of them sitting down to talk,” Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio., told Politico, and condemned “the idea that we’re even coming this close to a potential default.”
Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., also told Politico the White House “can’t keep waiting.”
Even then, Dingell expressed doubts that McCarthy will be able to wrangle his narrow GOP majority in the House to push through his debt ceiling proposal, saying some House Republicans could be uncomfortable with some of the spending cuts.
For his part, McCarthy expressed confidence he had the votes to pass the proposal.
“We will hold a vote this week, and we will pass it, and we will send it to the Senate,” McCarthy said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has already said the debt limit bill, if the House passes it, is dead on arrival.
When will the US default on its debts?
The U.S. Treasury could run out of cash to continue paying its obligations as early as this summer, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
If Congress does not raise the debt ceiling by then, the government would default on its debts, which has never happened in U.S. history. Should that happen, it could cause a global economic crisis.
“Failure to meet the government’s obligations would cause irreparable harm to the U.S. economy, the livelihoods of all Americans, and global financial stability,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote in a letter to congressional leadership in January.
Opinion: Biden needs to compromise on debt ceiling. Otherwise, we’re all headed toward disaster.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Democrats urge Biden to restart budget negotiations with McCarthy
