Biden warns Republicans ahead of debt ceiling meeting: ‘Default is not an option’
Christian Datoc
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President Joe Biden issued yet another warning to congressional Republicans ahead of his Tuesday meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), reiterating that “default is not an option.”
Biden and McCarthy will be joined by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for the group’s second meeting on the debt ceiling in as many weeks.
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The president called the meetings after House Republicans passed McCarthy’s debt limit increase and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the “X date,” the point at which the government will no longer be able to pay its bills, could occur weeks earlier than expected.
“Since taking office we’ve seen bigger jobs gains in two years than any president has in four. But if House Republicans push us into default, 8 million jobs could be lost — destroying our economic progress,” Biden tweeted Tuesday morning. “It’s clear: Default is not an option.”
https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1658461493132767233
Though White House officials have remained adamant that any debt limit increase must not be tethered to spending negotiations, Biden appears to have softened his stance to a degree following last week’s meeting.
Reporting indicates that the president is open to agreeing to some federal spending caps and stricter work requirements for certain entitlement programs in exchange for a two-year increase to the debt limit and protections for his legislative accomplishments, many of which would be rolled back by McCarthy’s House-passed plan.
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However, Biden told reporters after his most recent meeting with Congress’s “Big Four” that he was open to invoking the 14th Amendment to prevent a default if Republicans do not back down from McCarthy’s original position.
McCarthy’s own comments on Monday to reporters that “no progress” had been made during the staff-level talks would indicate the two sides are not close to a compromise.