President Biden’s meeting with McCarthy on Wednesday is going to be tense. According to the White House memo penned by National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young, the President intends to ask Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy two questions.
The first one will center on McCarthy’s commitment to avoid default on the country’s financial obligations. “Raising the debt ceiling is not a negotiation; it is an obligation of this country and its leaders to avoid economic chaos,” Biden is suggested to tell McCarthy at their meeting.
The second question will press the Speaker on releasing a budget proposal outlining House GOP spending plans.
“President Biden will release a budget on March 9. It is essential that Speaker McCarthy likewise commit to releasing a budget, so that the American people can see how House Republicans plan to reduce the deficit,” Deese and Young write in the memo.
Further down in the White House memo, Deese and Young suggest President Biden to quote President Trump, President Regan, and Mitch McConnel to make him commit to reducing the debt ceiling.
- Leader McConnell said earlier this month: “America must never default on its debt. I never has, and it never will.”
- President Trump said in 2019, he “can’t imagine anybody ever even thinking of using thedebt ceiling as a negotiating wedge … I certainly understand the highest rated credit ever in history…That’s a sacred element of our country.
- In a 1987 radio address, President Reagan said that debt ceiling “brinkmanship threatens the holders of government bonds and those who rely on Social Security and veterans benefits … The United States has a special responsibility to itself and the world to meet its obligations. It means we have a well-earned reputation for reliability and credibility – two things that set us apart in much of the world.”
Republicans are not too eager on an increase of the debt limit and McCarthy is planning to negotiate what his party can get in exchange.
“We’ve got a timeline here, let’s sit down, let’s not play political games. We both know we have certain positions, and let’s find where we can have savings for the American people,” McCarthy said on Monday.
