Debt ceiling talks ‘paused’: Republican negotiator calls White House demands ‘unreasonable’ – despite McCarthy saying a deal needed to be reached by the weekend – as deadline on default rapidly approaches
- Rep. Garrett Graves followed White House negotiators out of a meeting in the speaker’s office and told reporters they had pressed pause on negotiations
- He called talks ‘not productive’ and said the Biden administration was making ‘unreasonable’ requests
- ‘There are real differences between the parties on budget issues and talks will be difficult,’ White House said
Debt ceiling talks are now on ‘pause,’ according to House Republicans, after all sides expressed hope earlier this week that there could be a deal on the horizon.
Rep. Garrett Graves followed White House negotiators out of a meeting in the speaker’s office and told reporters they had pressed pause on negotiations.
He called talks ‘not productive’ and said the Biden administration was making ‘unreasonable’ requests.
‘Yeah we got a pause,’ Speaker Kevin McCarthy confirmed to reporters, after only yesterday expressing hope there could be a deal on the floor by next week.
‘We’ve got to get movement by the White House and we don’t have any movement yet,’ McCarthy said.
‘Yesterday I really felt we were at the location where I could see the path – the White House is just – look, we can’t be spending more money next year.’
The White House confirmed talks ‘will be difficult.’
‘There are real differences between the parties on budget issues and talks will be difficult. The President’s team is working hard towards a reasonable bipartisan solution that can pass the House and the Senate,’ a White House spokesperson said.
There are now less than two weeks before the Treasury could run out of funds to pay the nation’s bills on June 1.
On Thursday McCarthy had said he wants a floor vote next week on the deal and said he’s spoken to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on timing for a vote. The Senate adjourned Thursday and will be out next week, but Schumer instructed senators to be in a position to return to Washington on 24 hours’ notice if necessary.
‘The negotiations are currently making progress, as Speaker McCarthy has said he expects the House will vote next week if an agreement is reached, and the Senate would begin consideration after that,’ Schumer said.
However, members of the House Freedom Caucus are digging in to the right, adopting a new position that calls for ‘no further discussion’ until the Senate passes the House GOP’s Limit Save Grow Act.
‘The House Freedom Caucus calls on Speaker McCarthy and Senate Republicans to use every leverage and tool at their disposal to ensure the Limit, Save, Grow Act is signed into law.
There should be no further discussion until the Senate passes the legislation.’
It remains to be seen whether hardline Republicans will accept a negotiated deal that is less conservative than the party-line bill the House passed.
A Freedom Caucus source said the new demand was meant to signal to leadership: ‘Stop talking about watering down the [House GOP] bill.’
‘Keep negotiating by all means, just start adding not removing policies.’
Meanwhile, Senate Democrats led by Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., rolled out a letter Thursday demanding President Biden invoke the 14th Amendment to bypass Congress and unilaterally raise the debt limit.
‘It is unfortunate that Republicans in the House and Senate are not acting in good faith,’ the letter read. ‘We write to urgently request that you prepare to exercise your authority under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.’
But the message in the letter is markedly different from that coming out of leadership on both sides, with Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer saying there could be a deal to vote on in the House next week and the Senate the week after.
Section 4 of the 14th Amendment states: ‘The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.’
The Amendment – which granted citizenship to former slaves and extended ‘equal protection under the law’ among other provisions – essentially states that the nation’s debts must be paid by the federal government in full.
Experts have interpreted that to mean Biden may have some authority to go above Congress and lift the debt borrowing cap – although there would be expected legal challenges if he bypassed the legislative branch in this manner.