\n<\/aside>\nSenate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), for example, doesn\u2019t want Democrats to negotiate with House Republicans until the House GOP shows it can actually pass legislation to raise the debt ceiling.<\/p>\n
The House GOP is demanding spending cuts be paired with a debt ceiling hike, but it\u2019s far from clear that they can rally around a single plan if Democrats in the House hold tight in opposition \u2014 especially given the narrow majority held by McCarthy.<\/p>\n
Other Democrats think it is unrealistic for Biden and his party to take a no-negotiations stance, seeing it as politically rigid and likely to backfire.<\/p>\n
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who is up for reelection next year and represents a deep-red state in presidential elections, says it\u2019s a \u201cmistake\u201d for fellow Democrats to think they can raise the debt ceiling without sitting down and negotiating with McCarthy. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Manchin met with McCarthy on Wednesday to urge him to negotiate a debt limit and fiscal reform package with Biden but warned the Speaker not to push any plans to cut Medicare or Social Security benefits. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Schumer pushed back on that idea later in the day, arguing that McCarthy doesn\u2019t have any negotiating position until he shows he can unify his narrow House Republican majority behind a deficit reduction plan.<\/p>\n\n<\/aside>\n\u201cUntil Speaker McCarthy has a plan and a plan that can pass in the House with his Republican support, his going to the White House is like going with no cards in his hand,\u201d Schumer said when asked if there is any value to McCarthy sitting down with Biden to negotiate the debt limit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bottom line is the first step since McCarthy and many Republicans are playing brinksmanship, holding hostages \u2026 instead of playing that dangerous game of brinksmanship, it\u2019s incumbent on them to show\u201d their plan, Schumer said. \u201cShow your own caucus the plan and see if you got the votes to pass it.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
The White House has also signaled it does not want to negotiate spending cuts as part of a deal to hike the debt ceiling, saying any increase in the borrowing limit should be \u201cclean\u201d and without conditions.<\/p>\n\n<\/aside>\nA source familiar with Wednesday\u2019s meeting between Manchin and McCarthy described it as a \u201cgood meeting\u201d and said that Manchin urged the Speaker to negotiate with Biden to find a path forward on raising the debt ceiling and \u201cavoid harming the American people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Manchin told reporters after the meeting that McCarthy agreed not to cut Medicare or Social Security benefits as part of any fiscal reform. \u00a0<\/p>\n
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), however, also dismissed a negotiation with McCarthy as a waste of time when House Republicans are holding the debt limit hostage. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n<\/aside>\n\u201cThere\u2019s a difference between negotiation and blackmail,\u201d he said at a joint press conference with Schumer. \u201cWhat they\u2019re essentially saying on the other side of the aisle is, \u2018We will detonate Social Security, detonate Medicare, detonate veterans\u2019 benefits or possibly even risk a catastrophic default for the first time in American history.\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n
\u201cThat ain\u2019t negotiation, that\u2019s blackmail,\u201d he added. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Democratic senators say that Schumer doesn\u2019t want other members of their caucus to join Manchin\u2019s call for bipartisan negotiation over raising the debt limit, urging them to stay unified against Republican efforts to use the debt limit as a bargaining chip. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n<\/aside>\n\u201cI thought what Sen. Schumer said was that no one is supposed to be out negotiating on this point,\u201d Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) said of the looming debt limit expiration. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Hickenlooper said Schumer \u201cis leading the caucus in what he thinks will be successful for this country\u201d and that his recommendation not to negotiate is a negotiating position in itself. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Rep. Brendan Boyle (Pa.), the ranking Democrat on the House Budget Committee, rejected the idea of Biden negotiating with McCarthy over the debt limit and predicted that House Republicans will have a very hard time passing any budget plan to implement the steep spending cuts favored by House conservatives.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n<\/aside>\n\u201cI doubt he could get 218 votes for that on his own side,\u201d Boyle said of McCarthy\u2019s pledge to cut discretionary spending to the levels appropriated by Congress for fiscal 2022, which would amount to nearly a 10 percent cut in defense spending. \u00a0<\/p>\n
He noted that McCarthy was forced to delay action on a border security bill because of squabbling between moderates and conservatives in his conference. House leaders held up another bill aimed at cracking down on progressive district attorneys in big cities because some conservatives criticized it as a federalization of law enforcement.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMcCarthy\u2019s ability to execute in that caucus is something that does not seem terribly strong,\u201d Boyle added. \u201cIt gives us leverage.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n