Biden stands firm on debt ceiling, says McCarthy.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Urges Negotiation on Debt Limit

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) is calling for negotiation on a bill to raise the debt limit, as President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders remain unwilling to budge on their demands for a clean debt ceiling bill. McCarthy’s plea comes as the United States moves closer to default, with the Treasury Department and outside analysts predicting that the country will run out of money to pay its bills by early June if the debt ceiling is not raised.

The Stalemate Continues

At a press conference following his meeting with Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), McCarthy asked, “Is it too much to ask that we spend what we spent five months ago?” Neither Biden nor Schumer indicated they would negotiate on their demands for a clean debt ceiling bill, with Schumer accusing House Republicans of holding “the American people as a hostage.”

The Thursday meeting was the first time Republican and Democratic leaders have met to discuss the debt limit. For months, Biden has refused to speak with McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) about Republican plans to raise the debt ceiling while capping federal spending. Biden instead insists that Congress must pass a “clean” debt ceiling hike without touching federal spending. The nation’s debt is nearly $32 trillion.

The Consequences of Default

Experts unanimously agree that defaulting on the nation’s debt would cause disastrous harm to the economy. House Republicans passed a debt ceiling bill in April that freezes spending at 2022 levels, limiting non-entitlement and defense spending to a one percent annual increase for the next decade. No Democrats voted for the bill.

“This is a president who when he was vice president, [the debt] was at $14 trillion,” said McCarthy. He later added that Biden voted against debt ceiling hikes in the past as a senator because he didn’t believe there were enough budget cuts.

The Call for Spending Cuts

Democrats have charged that the Republican spending plan would lead to painful cuts to a variety of federal programs. McCarthy dismissed those allegations and asked, “Were people not getting their veteran care, were people not getting everything they asked for five months ago?”

The National Republican Campaign Committee announced a five-figure ad campaign Thursday morning that targets vulnerable House Democrats on the issue. Democrats “refuse to solve the spending crisis they created,” the ad states, and are “voting against a common-sense plan to tackle the government spending program.”

The group is scheduled to meet again Friday, but as of now, the stalemate continues.