![]() ![]() But Democrats have said any changes to work requirements for government aid recipients are nonstarters. The GOP additionally wants new cuts to food aid by restricting states’ ability to waive work requirements in places with high joblessness. Republicans also want to beef up work requirements for government aid to recipients in the Medicaid health care program, though the Biden administration has countered that millions of people could lose coverage. “There’s absolutely no reason to do this and we all know it,” he said.Īs the negotiators focus on the $100 billion-plus difference between the 20 spending plans as a place to cut, other priorities Republicans are pushing as part of the deal remain on the table. Perry suggested the Treasury Department is going to be “flush with cash” come June 15 when quarterly tax payments are due. He and others are growing skeptical of the June 1 deadline that Treasury Secretary Janel Yellen said is when “it is highly likely” the government will be unable to pay all the nation’s bills. But again, it’s sticking together around the right thing.” Scott Perry said, “We all want to stick together. On Tuesday, the leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus Rep. ![]() McCarthy faces a hard-right flank in his own party that is likely to reject any deal, and that has led some Democrats to encourage Biden to resist any compromise with the Republicans and simply raise the debt ceiling on his own, an unprecedented and legally fraught action. financial markets turned down last week after negotiations paused amid a jittery economy. The Senate would also have to pass the package before it could go to Biden’s desk to be signed.Īfter a weekend of start-stop talks, both Biden and McCarthy have declared a need to close a compromise deal. The House speaker promised lawmakers he will abide by the rule to post any bill for 72 hours before voting, making any action doubtful until the end of the week - just days before the potential deadline. “What I sense from the White House is a lack of urgency,” McHenry told reporters.īut on the Senate side, Republican leader Mitch McConnell said, “Look, I think everybody needs to relax.” He said that “the last 10 times we raised the debt ceiling, there were things attached to it” - as the White House has opposed this year. Talks resumed Monday night at the Capitol for two hours, and picked up again midday Tuesday. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina who joined the speaker at the Oval Office Monday evening, said there needs to be more urgency. Typically, the debt ceiling has been lifted for the duration of a budget deal, and in this negotiation the White House is angling for a two-year agreement that would push past the presidential elections.Ī top Republican negotiator Rep. The negotiators are now also debating the duration of a 1% cap on annual spending growth going forward, with Republicans dropping their demand for a 10-year cap to six years, but the White House offering only one year, for 2025. The White House continues to argue that deficits can be reduced by ending tax breaks for wealthier households and some corporations, but McCarthy said he told the president at their February meeting that raising revenue from tax hikes is off the table. Republicans insist that next year’s government spending be less than it is now, but the White House instead is offering to freeze spending at current 2023 numbers.Īgreement on that topline spending level is vital - to enable McCarthy to deliver spending restraint for conservatives while not being so severe that it would chase off the Democratic votes that would be needed in the divided Congress to pass any bill. Negotiations are focused on finding agreement over a 2024 budget year limit. But the newly elected speaker, McCarthy, R-Calif., visited Biden at the Oval Office in February, urging the president to come to the negotiating table on a budget package that would reduce spending and the nation’s post-COVID ballooning deficits in exchange for the vote to allow future debt.īoth men said late Monday after a crucial meeting at the White House - after the president returned from the Group of Seven summit in Japan - that talks were productive.īut with time short to strike a deal, they are laboring to come up with a compromise that could be approved quickly by the Republican House and the Democratic Senate and be signed into law. ![]()
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