\n
Comment on this story<\/title><path d=\"M14 14V2H2v9.47h8.18L12.43 13ZM3 10.52V3h10v9.23l-2.5-1.66Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/p>\n<p>Comment<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"teaser-content grid-center\">\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy\">Top Republicans on Sunday blasted President Biden for refusing to negotiate a deal over the debt ceiling, renewing their threats to leverage the fiscally calamitous prospect of default to secure spending cuts from the White House.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy\">The party affirmed its political demands as Biden prepares to sit down with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in the coming days \u2014 even though the president has maintained he will not haggle over the need to address one of the country\u2019s most important fiscal obligations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy\">The emerging and potentially catastrophic stalemate concerns the maximum amount that the U.S. government can borrow to pay its existing bills. Congress must act to raise or suspend that cap, known as the debt limit, or risk pushing the United States into a recession with global implications, according to leading economists and administration officials.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy\">The country\u2019s debt \u2014 now exceeding $31 trillion \u2014 is the result of decades of spending enacted by lawmakers in both parties. But Republicans, who assumed control of the House this month, have pinned the blame entirely on Democrats as they pledge to seek new, steep reductions in federal spending this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy\">\u201cYou can\u2019t just increase the debt limit and let President Biden keep spending like he\u2019s done,\u201d House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said Sunday on Fox News.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy\">Appearing on NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press,\u201d Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said Republicans had to seize on the debt ceiling because \u201cclearly the budget process isn\u2019t working.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy\">\u201cThere\u2019s no time like the present, because we have the debt ceiling looming over us, to talk about this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy\">Even Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, a key member of Biden\u2019s party, signaled interest in holding spending talks. In a potential break with other Democrats, the pivotal centrist told CNN it would be a \u201cmistake\u201d if the president did not discuss some cuts with his GOP counterparts \u2014 particularly focusing on eliminating waste, fraud and abuse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy\">The quarreling sets the stage for a high-stakes political battle as soon as this summer, when the United States is expected to exhaust all of its remaining special budgetary moves to prevent a government default. In a letter to lawmakers last week, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said these \u201cextraordinary measures\u201d could sustain federal finances until at least early June, a timeline that prompted congressional Democrats to sound their own urgent notes for action Sunday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy\">\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t play games with the national debt,\u201d Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) said on CNN\u2019s \u201cState of the Union,\u201d adding that Biden should \u201cabsolutely not\u201d negotiate with Republicans.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy\">The U.S. government has never defaulted in its history \u2014 and even the mere prospect has cost the economy greatly. A similar showdown between Republican lawmakers and a Democratic-led White House in 2011 rattled markets, worsened the country\u2019s credit and cost taxpayers more than $1 billion. The brinkmanship ended only after President Barack Obama worked out a deal with GOP lawmakers that capped spending for a decade, leading to what Democrats have long described as crippling shortfalls at federal health, science, education and labor agencies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy\">This year, Republicans are seeking a similar deal under McCarthy \u2014 yet Democrats have remained steadfast in their refusal to accept GOP demands. On Friday, the White House confirmed that Biden plans for now to sit down with the House speaker to discuss \u201ca range of issues,\u201d including the looming spending fight. But press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also stressed in a statement that \u201craising the debt ceiling is not a negotiation,\u201d citing the prospect of \u201ceconomic chaos\u201d if Republicans look to levy the upcoming fiscal deadline for political gain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p><span class=\"font--article-body font-copy hide-for-print ma-0 pb-md db italic interstitial\"><a data-qa=\"interstitial-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/us-policy\/2023\/01\/21\/biden-aides-want-force-gop-abandon-debt-limit-threats\/?itid=lk_interstitial_manual_21\">Biden aides want to force GOP to abandon debt limit threats<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy\">Biden, for his part, recently has emphasized Republicans\u2019 contributions to the country\u2019s debt. Speaking Friday at the White House, the president said that about a quarter of U.S. debt over the past 200 years came \u201cin the four years of my predecessor,\u201d referring to former president Donald Trump. And other Democrats have pointed to the fact that they provided their votes \u2014 without demands \u2014 to raise the debt ceiling during the last administration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy\">A top moderate Republican, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), said earlier Sunday on another Fox broadcast that it would be a \u201cproblem\u201d if Biden did not engage Republicans in an era of divided government. A co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, the congressman said he is actively working on legislation to try to address the logjam. He was joined by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), a moderate Democrat, and said the two want to put \u201cmeat on those bones\u201d of that proposal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy\">Fitzpatrick said that the still-forming bill would change the debt ceiling from a \u201cnumerical dollar amount\u201d to a measure of debt as a percentage of gross domestic product. If that percentage exceeds a certain threshold, a \u201ccure period\u201d would begin, the congressman said, noting that \u201cif that cure does not happen, certain budgetary reforms automatically kick in.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-body\" data-qa=\"article-body\">\n<p data-qa=\"drop-cap-letter\" data-el=\"text\" class=\"wpds-c-cYdRxM wpds-c-cYdRxM-iPJLV-css font-copy\">\u201cNobody should be taking the position that we should not negotiate,\u201d Fitzpatrick said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"dn-ns hide-for-print\" data-testid=\"mostRead\" subscriptions-section=\"content\"\/><\/div>\n\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/__i\/rss\/rd\/articles\/CBMiSWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS91cy1wb2xpY3kvMjAyMy8wMS8yMi9kZWJ0LWxpbWl0LWJpZGVuLWdvcC_SAQA?oc=5\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Comment on this story Comment Top Republicans on Sunday blasted President Biden for refusing to negotiate a deal over the debt ceiling, renewing their threats to leverage the fiscally calamitous prospect of default to secure spending cuts from the White House. The party affirmed its political demands as Biden prepares to sit down with House …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[161],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45304"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45304"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45304\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brandon.ddtest.info\/multisite-test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}