Kevin McCarthy Boasts Democrats ‘Backtracked’ On Their Debt Limit Stance

WASHINGTON ― House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) bragged that the president Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.) are negotiating with republicans on a bill to raise the federal debt ceiling.

“The president and leader Schumer have finally backed down from their idea that they will not negotiate,” McCarthy said at a news conference on Wednesday. “They finally backed down from the crazy, irrational, insane idea that you just raise the debt ceiling.”

If Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling sometime next month, the federal government will be unable to borrow money to cover its expenses, resulting in an unprecedented federal default that could hurt the economy.

democrats They have said that Congress should simply raise the debt ceiling to avoid damaging the economy, but Republicans have refused, arguing that Congress should not raise the ceiling without reducing future debt growth by cutting spending. Since the Republicans control the House of Representatives and the Democrats control the Senate, the two sides will have to come to an agreement.

Biden and McCarthy met last week and again on Tuesday, and their staff members have been speaking continuously. McCarthy’s triumphant tone on Wednesday marked a change from Monday when she complained that they “just seem like they want to look like they’re in a meeting, but they’re not talking about anything serious.”

But Biden insisted Wednesday that he’s not really negotiating the debt ceiling, just the federal budget, even though to Republicans the two are essentially the same.

“To be clear, this negotiation is about the contours of what the budget will look like, not about whether or not we are going to, in fact, pay our debts,” Biden said.

A key Republican demand is to add stricter “work requirements” to federal programs that help low-income Americans pay for food and health care. President He said Wednesday he would be open to stricter rules., just not “nothing of any consequence”. It is not clear what Biden meant by the statement; Republican proposals for tougher rules on three federal programs would affect millions of people.

When asked about Biden’s comments at his press conference, McCarthy and a group of House and Senate Republicans around him laughed, with one unidentified lawmaker saying, “Loser!”

“Something that has consequences? This is a senator who voted for job requirements,” McCarthy said, referring to the president’s time as a senator. (Biden voted for the work requirements as part of a welfare reform bill in 1996.)

McCarthy claimed that increasing labor requirements would help people escape poverty and ease pressure on the supply chain.

“I think when you’re sitting in the room and listening to the American public, why wouldn’t they want to help people out of poverty?” he said. “What you are going to have is a supply chain that is not working as well, more dependent on China and putting the United States in a weaker position. I think that’s wrong.

He The Congressional Budget Office has found that job requirements, essentially caps on unemployment benefits, may encourage some people to seek gainful employment, but not most. In general, the increase in revenue does not make up for the loss of profit.

Jonathan Nicholson contributed to this reporting.