WASHINGTON — Progressive groups and lawmakers are increasingly anxious about President Joe Biden’s negotiations with congressional Republicans, raising alarm bells about the impact of potential program cuts on low-income Americans.
Biden suggested over the weekend that he would be open to a deal that places more stringent labor requirements on federal safety net programs. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has insisted on including those changes, as well as other steep budget cuts, in exchange for lifting the federal “debt ceiling” before the legal deadline to June 1 loans.
“We have made it clear publicly and privately that not just job requirements, but spending cuts, overall spending cuts, are off the table,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash) told HuffPost. , chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. from another meeting between Biden and congressional leaders on Tuesday afternoon.
ProsperUS, a coalition of leading progressive groups, also urged Biden to reject any deal “that hurts the most vulnerable people in our economy.” The organization added in a statement: “If House Republicans were serious about reducing the deficit and increasing revenue, they would stop protecting big, wealthy corporations from paying their fair share in taxes.”
As part of their debt limit bill, which the House passed on a party-line vote last month, Republicans proposed a new limit on Medicaid benefits for unemployed adults without dependents, in addition to expanding the “debt-limit requirements.” work” existing for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. . The bill would limit SNAP benefits to unemployed childless adults up to age 55 instead of just those under age 50, as current law requires.
Most households receiving SNAP benefits include minors, people with disabilities, and seniors. The Republican proposal only targets healthy adults with no dependents.
In his comments on Sunday, Biden appeared to rule out only the Medicaid portion of the Republican proposal. But on Monday he also criticized the provision dealing with SNAP, which provides monthly benefits to 20 million households.
“House Republicans’ wish list would put a million seniors at risk of losing their food assistance and going hungry,” Biden said on Twitter.
Jayapal seemed pleased with Biden’s follow-up on SNAP work requirements on Tuesday. “The White House backed down on that,” he said.
Republicans also proposed stricter work rules for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a much smaller program that serves fewer than 1 million households, all with children. Biden has not addressed that proposal.
Most congressional Democrats refrain from commenting directly on the talks, which insist on dealing with the budget and not the more immediate issue of the debt ceiling, while expressing public support for Biden’s negotiating strategy.
But concern is growing within the Democratic Party about the possibility of avoiding a disastrous federal debt default, as Republicans insist on big spending cuts in the coming years, including automatic annual spending cuts. The House GOP debt limit bill would limit discretionary spending growth to 1% over the next decade, without specifying exactly which programs would see cuts.
“I’m concerned that if we’re going to come to a budget deal … that we have the courage to detail the specific cuts in that and not leave it to a automatic process,” Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) told HuffPost.
Progressive lawmakers are being even more vocal about the GOP’s proposed spending cuts and tougher food aid work requirements, warning they would hurt vulnerable Americans.
“Republicans call these rules work requirements. I call them impractical requirements,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said Monday. “We need to call these proposals for what they are: a bold effort to get people out of the programs they need to survive.”
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (DN.Y.) told HuffPost that he wished Biden wasn’t negotiating with republicans absolutely.
“I’m frustrated that we even have to participate in these conversations because it lends credibility to what the Republicans are trying to do, which is more or less hold the global economy hostage from pretending like they’re fiscally responsible when they’re not.” .
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