Work requirements for benefit programs become red line in debt ceiling talks
Samantha-Jo Roth
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Tougher work requirements for social benefit programs are emerging as a red line in negotiations over an agreement to lift the nation’s borrowing limit, which top congressional leaders and President Joe Biden are expected to discuss during a meeting on Tuesday.
Congress has less than three weeks to act or risk default, which could ultimately cause the country to go into a recession. The United States has been using “extraordinary measures” to pay the bills after hitting the borrowing limit back in January. Republicans in both chambers of Congress continue to assert they won’t pass a debt ceiling increase unless they have an agreement with the White House on budget cuts, arguing that reduced spending is needed to curb inflation. Democrats continue to refuse to attach conditions to raising the debt limit.
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Behind the scenes, aides on both sides have discussed several paths to an agreement, including changes to energy permitting, spending caps, and new work requirements for benefit programs for low-income citizens in exchange for votes to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, according to those with knowledge of the negotiations.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said work requirements for social benefit programs are a red line for him. House Republicans already passed some work requirements as part of their plan, which would apply stricter work requirements to specific recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Medicaid, and other federal programs.
Biden has previously signaled he could be open to concessions on work requirements in an effort to reach a spending deal, although he appeared to walk back that idea when he tweeted a warning about the effect the House Republican proposal would have on “older adults.
“Rather than push Americans into poverty, we should reduce the deficit by making sure the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share in taxes,” Biden tweeted.
However, some Democrats are growing concerned about the idea of putting new work requirements on the table at all.
“What it’s about is trying to tangle more people in red tape so that they can’t get the benefits that they both desperately need and that they are entitled to,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on Tuesday.
Other Democrats said tougher work requirements aren’t necessary since they already are on the books for most federal programs.
“The reality is when we’re talking about children getting food stamps to survive on, work requirements don’t make any sense at all,” said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL).
Some centrist Democrats, such as Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), who is up for reelection in a red state next year, did not want to comment on the specific negotiations.
“I think it would be great to negotiate on all this stuff without a gun held to our head,” Tester said to reporters on Tuesday afternoon. “I don’t think you do good negotiations when you’re threatening to put the entire economy into depression.”
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With only a few days remaining this month when both the House and Senate are in session to pass legislation, McCarthy is sounding more pessimistic.
“We got to get serious at this point. Time is of the essence. [Biden] wasted 97 days. You can’t now,” McCarthy said to reporters on Tuesday. “We want to lift people out of poverty. We want to grow our economy. We want to spend less than we did before to curb inflation. It’s not that difficult.”