President Biden called out House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and House Republicans Sunday for bringing the government to the brink of shutting down.
“That’s good news for the American people because the government will not shut down and a needless crisis will have been averted, saving millions, millions of Americans, needless pain,” Mr. Biden said Sunday. “… The truth is we shouldn’t have gotten here in the first place. It’s time to end governing by crisis and keep your word when you give it in the Congress.”
He said the negotiations between himself and Mr. McCarthy months ago were agreed upon to avoid the “manufactured crisis that we just witnessed.”
The president blamed MAGA Republicans as the reason for the near-shutdown.
“The last few days and weeks extreme MAGA Republicans tried to walk away from that deal,” he said. “Voting for deep, drastic spending cuts from 30 to 50%, that would have been devastating for millions of Americans. They failed again. They failed again, and we stopped them. But I’m under no illusions that they’ll be back again.”
He pointedly made it known that he hopes Republicans will now keep their word about supporting Ukraine in a separate vote, since the stopgap measure they passed Saturday night does not include funds for the country.
SEE ALSO: Ukraine takes U.S. funding block in stride after Hill vote
“But let’s be clear. I hope my friends on the other side keep their word about support for Ukraine. They said they’re going to support Ukraine in a separate vote,” Mr. Biden said. “We cannot, under any circumstance, allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted.”
“Stop playing games. Get this done,” he added.
He warned Congress that time is running out to support Ukraine.
“We have time, not much time, and there’s an overwhelming sense of urgency,” he said.
When asked if he would be able to trust Mr. McCarthy to keep his word on deals, Mr. Biden said, “We just made one about Ukraine, so we’ll find out.”
He also said he hopes this experience for Mr. McCarthy has “been one of a personal revelation.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.