Harris to hold a briefing on debt negotiations with Biden abroad
Christian Datoc
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The White House announced Wednesday that Vice President Kamala Harris would field questions from reporters on Thursday regarding the debt ceiling negotiations.
The event will be open press, an unexpected turn in the middle of tense negotiations between the White House and congressional Republicans as the country rapidly approaches the first possible default in U.S. history.
BIDEN’S DEBT GAMES ARE ALL PLAYED OUT
Harris joined President Joe Biden during his Tuesday debt limit meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and the other congressional leaders, though she did not partake in the first meeting the week prior.
National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard and White House Office of Public Engagement Director Stephen Benjamin will also join Harris in the briefing, which will be conducted over Zoom.
Biden departed for the G-7 leaders summit in Hiroshima, Japan, on Wednesday, where he will stay through the weekend, but White House officials stressed Tuesday that the president views Harris as an equal “partner” on all matters despite media speculation that Biden could replace her on the 2024 ticket.
“She has been a partner in this,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in response to a reporter’s question about Harris during Tuesday’s press briefing. “She has been consulted multiple times on the budget, on preventing default. This is something where the president clearly respects her view.”
Jean-Pierre did not, however, specifically say whether or not Harris would be expected to step into Biden’s full-point position on the debt talks while the president is abroad.
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“The vice president is a close adviser. She’s a partner to the president that has been consistent the last two years,” she stated Tuesday. “The president can be president anywhere. He can do the work of the American people abroad, and certainly, he does it every day here when we’re in the White House. So that’s not going to change.”