House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he is not confident the White House is serious about reaching a spending deal that can unlock a hike to the debt limit, ahead of a Tuesday meeting with President Biden regarding the nation’s borrowing cap.
Mr. McCarthy said on Monday that both sides are still “far apart” after several staff-level meetings between the administration and congressional leaders.
“I just don’t see the movement. It seems as though they wanted to have meetings to say they had meetings — not to really find a solution,” said Mr. McCarthy, California Republican.
Mr. McCarthy said the staff-level talks would continue and hoped the White House would become more “willing partners” as the debt limit deadline of June 1 looms.
In the lead-up to Tuesday’s meeting at the White House, administration officials have met repeatedly with staffers for Mr. McCarthy and other congressional leaders, but no breakthrough has emerged.
Allies to Mr. McCarthy have said that part of the obstacle in trying to forge a deal is the “presence of too many” players in the negotiating room. Apart from White House officials and Mr. McCarthy’s lieutenants, also privy to the talks are staffers of House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
“It’s too many cooks in the kitchen,” said a senior GOP leadership aide. “Everyone knows that the real deal will be forged by the president and the speaker. If the deal can’t pass the House, it doesn’t matter. Everything else is ancillary.”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that Congress must pass a debt limit increase by June 1 or risk a default on the government’s obligations.
The Senate is scheduled to be out next week for a week-long recess ahead of Memorial Day. Similarly, the House is scheduled to be out the week after, heading into June 1.
Senate Democrats are eyeing cutting their break short, but no decision has yet been made. Given the long-standing procedures and traditions of the Senate, it takes at least one week for legislation to receive final approval after introduction.
Mr. Biden is making no such move of his own. The president is set to depart Washington on Wednesday for a meeting of the Group of Seven leaders in Japan. Mr. Biden is not scheduled to return until early next week.
Mr. McCarthy has said that a final deal should be agreed to no later than Friday for Congress to have enough time to act.
“I’m sitting here as somebody who has been trying to get to a solution, from the very beginning since taking over as speaker, knowing that this day would come,” said Mr. McCarthy. “Trying to make sure this day wouldn’t happen.”
House Republicans say any deal to hike the debt ceiling should include at least $130 billion in immediate spending cuts.
Mr. McCarthy has said that half of that money can be made up by rescinding more than $60 billion in unspent coronavirus relief.
Democrats are open to the clawback, provided it doesn’t impact money that has already been promised to state and local governments.
Republicans also want to expand work requirements for welfare recipients, cap future federal spending, and overhaul the permitting process for energy projects. They also want to cancel more than $200 billion in green energy tax credits that Democrats passed last year as part of Mr. Biden’s signature climate law.
Mr. Biden has signaled that the latter demand is a non-starter.
“They say they were spending too much giving tax breaks to people who are moving to renewable energy,” said Mr. Biden. “It has nothing to do with anything other than that oil companies don’t like it.”
The White House appears open to some of the GOP demands. Negotiators are working to see if they can combine parts of an energy proposal passed by House Republicans this year with a permitting overhaul authored by Sen. Joe Manchin III last year that Mr. Biden endorsed.
Over the weekend, Mr. Biden also opened the door to accepting expanded work requirements, provided they did not cover Medicaid.
“I voted for tougher aid programs that are in law now, but for Medicaid, it’s a different story,” said Mr. Biden. “So, I’m waiting to hear what their exact proposal is.”
House Republicans have pushed for work requirements on not only Medicaid, but also Food Stamps and direct cash payments to needy families.
But wide divisions also remain over capping the growth of federal spending moving forward. Republicans want to cap spending growth at 1% for the next decade, while Democrats are pushing for only a two-year agreement.
A senior Democratic aide told The Washington Times it would not be fair to “kneecap” a future Congress based on a “deal signed by leaders that might not be in power after 2025.”
• Haris Alic can be reached at halic@washingtontimes.com.
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