Breaking News
Investing Pro 0
💎 Access the Market Tools Trusted by Thousands of Investors Get Started

White House, Republicans trade barbs as debt talks paused

Published May 20, 2023 09:52AM ET Updated May 20, 2023 10:16PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This article has already been saved in your Saved Items
 
2/2 © Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) arrives for a portrait unveiling ceremony for former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 17, 2023. REUTERS/Nathan Howard/File Photo 2/2

By Moira Warburton and Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Joe Biden's administration and congressional Republicans traded barbs on Saturday over raising the federal $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, with both sides casting the other's proposals as too extreme.

Officials did not meet on Saturday, after two meetings ended on Friday with no progress cited by either side and negotiators saying they were not sure when fresh talks would take place.

There are less than two weeks before June 1, when the U.S. Treasury Department has warned that the federal government could be unable to pay all its debts. That would trigger a default that could cause chaos in financial markets and spike interest rates.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted in a statement that Biden and Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy had agreed that any budget agreement would need to be bipartisan and accused Republicans of offering proposals too far to the right to pass Congress.

Biden told his team to schedule a call on the debt limit with McCarthy later on Sunday, according to a White House official.

Biden sought the meeting after being briefed by his team in Japan, where he is traveling to participate in the Group of 7 (G7) meetings.

Late Saturday afternoon, McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol that he did not think talks could move forward until Biden was back in the country from the G7 meeting in Japan. He accused Democrats of taking a position that was too extreme toward the left.

"Unfortunately, the White House moved backwards," McCarthy said, adding that the "socialist wing" of the Democratic Party appeared to be in control.

McCarthy's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the White House statement.

McCarthy's Republican-led House last month passed legislation would cut a wide swath of government spending by 8% next year. Democrats say that would force average cuts of at least 22% on programs like education and law enforcement, a figure top Republicans have not disputed.

DIVIDED CONGRESS

Republicans hold a slim majority of seats in the House and Biden's fellow Democrats have narrow control of the Senate, so no deal can pass without bipartisan support.

A source familiar with the negotiations said Republicans had proposed an increase in defense spending, while cutting overall spending. The source also said House Republicans want to extend tax cuts passed under former President Donald Trump, which would add $3.5 trillion to the federal debt.

The source said the Biden administration had proposed keeping non-defense discretionary spending flat for the next year, which would cut spending when adjustments are made for inflation.

U.S. Representative Patrick McHenry, a Republican negotiator, had said Republicans leaders were "going to huddle as a team and assess" where things stood. He did not comment on whether there would be talks on Sunday.

Republicans are pushing for sharp spending cuts in many domestic programs in exchange for the increase in the government's self-imposed borrowing limit, which is needed regularly to cover costs of spending and tax cuts previously approved by lawmakers.

Congressional Republicans voted to raise the debt ceiling three times, with no budget cut pre-conditions, when Republican President Donald Trump was in the White House.

White House, Republicans trade barbs as debt talks paused
 

Related Articles

Add a Comment

Comment Guidelines

We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:  

  •            Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.

  •           Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed. 

  •           Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.

  • Use standard writing style. Include punctuation and upper and lower cases. Comments that are written in all caps and contain excessive use of symbols will be removed.
  • NOTE: Spam and/or promotional messages and comments containing links will be removed. Phone numbers, email addresses, links to personal or business websites, Skype/Telegram/WhatsApp etc. addresses (including links to groups) will also be removed; self-promotional material or business-related solicitations or PR (ie, contact me for signals/advice etc.), and/or any other comment that contains personal contact specifcs or advertising will be removed as well. In addition, any of the above-mentioned violations may result in suspension of your account.
  • Doxxing. We do not allow any sharing of private or personal contact or other information about any individual or organization. This will result in immediate suspension of the commentor and his or her account.
  • Don’t monopolize the conversation. We appreciate passion and conviction, but we also strongly believe in giving everyone a chance to air their point of view. Therefore, in addition to civil interaction, we expect commenters to offer their opinions succinctly and thoughtfully, but not so repeatedly that others are annoyed or offended. If we receive complaints about individuals who take over a thread or forum, we reserve the right to ban them from the site, without recourse.
  • Only English comments will be allowed.
  • Any comment you publish, together with your investing.com profile, will be public on investing.com and may be indexed and available through third party search engines, such as Google.

Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.

Write your thoughts here
 
Are you sure you want to delete this chart?
 
Post
Post also to:
 
Replace the attached chart with a new chart ?
1000
Your ability to comment is currently suspended due to negative user reports. Your status will be reviewed by our moderators.
Please wait a minute before you try to comment again.
Thanks for your comment. Please note that all comments are pending until approved by our moderators. It may therefore take some time before it appears on our website.
Comments (20)
Michael Byrne
Michael Byrne May 21, 2023 3:09PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
Trading barbs is very productive ...NOT!
Ramesh Shah
Ramesh Shah May 21, 2023 5:25AM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
Bring inMeans testing for retirees and cut benefits for elderly and spend , Invest money on Education for next gen
First Last
First Last May 21, 2023 5:25AM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
Republicans are anti-education.  As Trump said, "I Love the Poorly Educated".  They're easier to lie to.
jason Trulso
jason Trulso May 21, 2023 1:12AM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
🤔👉👈 finger-pointing emojis... lol
Jake Robertson
Jake Robertson May 21, 2023 12:18AM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
the Totalitarian Democrat won't negotiate anything and if the county defaults on the debt ceiling the Liberal Media will lie and blame the Republicans
First Last
First Last May 21, 2023 12:18AM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
The retrumplicans' negotiating position is "either my way all the way or the highway to hell."
Warm Camp
Warm Camp May 20, 2023 6:58PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
Reps should hold strong, and let Biden figure out his options. Whether he wants to violate the debt ceiling law or violate the 14th amendment by announcing default or, let’s imagine this, he will live with balanced budget. Either way he got to decide. Better say, his handlers got to decide.
Brad Albright
Brad Albright May 20, 2023 6:58PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
Balanced budget? That's not in the mix. Once again, you don't know what you are talking about
First Last
First Last May 20, 2023 6:58PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
If the debt ceiling law is unconstitutional, then it can be violated.
Wen Lin
Wen Lin May 20, 2023 6:09PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
Biden could be known as the First US President of Default🤷‍♂️
Show previous replies (3)
Mark Jannetty
Mark Jannetty May 20, 2023 6:09PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
that's the Democrat senate that is not giving it to him in order to make that choice. congress passed a bill that would increase the debt limit
First Last
First Last May 20, 2023 6:09PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
Mark Jannetty   The Senate gets 1st option to make the choice on the House's crappy, bad-faith bill.
First Last
First Last May 20, 2023 6:09PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
Mark Jannetty   "congress passed a bill that would increase the debt limit"  --  No, didn't happen.
Mark Jannetty
Mark Jannetty May 20, 2023 6:09PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
First Last go read it
First Last
First Last May 20, 2023 6:09PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
Mark Jannetty   If "congress passed a bill", when did Biden vetoed it?
Phil Davis
Phil Davis May 20, 2023 6:09PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
Now the left doesn't want cuts to law enforcement?
Show previous replies (4)
First Last
First Last May 20, 2023 6:09PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
Mark Jannetty  Nobody said the Dems didn't call for defunding the police.  Regarding your "you never see Republicans doing that"  --  retrumplicans are doing that now.  That's my point.  Try to keep up.
Mark Jannetty
Mark Jannetty May 20, 2023 6:09PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
find me 1 video of a republican saying they want to defund the police.
Teena Marie
Teena Marie May 20, 2023 6:09PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
Mark Jannetty Tons of videos. Not tons of Democrats.
First Last
First Last May 20, 2023 6:09PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
Mark Jannetty  Did you even read this article!?  "McCarthy's Republican-led House last month passed legislation would cut a wide swath of government spending by 8% next year. Democrats say that would force average cuts of at least 22% on programs like education and law enforcement, a figure top Republicans have not disputed."
Teena Marie
Teena Marie May 20, 2023 6:09PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
First Last Wouldn't matter if he did or didn't. Law enforcement, judiciary process, and education are not integral to the MAGA anti-government ideology.
Dave Jones
Dave Jones May 20, 2023 5:51PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
32 trillion in debt doesn't make America the richest country on earth it means it's one of the poorest.
Warm Camp
Warm Camp May 20, 2023 5:51PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
The country is still rich, but not that rich anymore to afford bad governance. The bad government got to go.
Chad Richer Than You
Chad Richer Than You May 20, 2023 5:30PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
USA collapsing in real time
Warm Camp
Warm Camp May 20, 2023 5:30PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
It has 31 trillion reasons.
Wen Lin
Wen Lin May 20, 2023 5:14PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
Now whoever calls for meeting first is the weaker side to cave. Biden and McCarthy showtime
Warm Camp
Warm Camp May 20, 2023 5:14PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
McCarthy can wait. After all, the House has passed debt ceiling legislation and it is up to Senate to uphold or decline it, and if the Senate upholds, then it is up to Biden to sign or veto it.
Dave Jones
Dave Jones May 20, 2023 5:14PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
He's got brandon by the balls?
First Last
First Last May 20, 2023 5:14PM ET
Saved. See Saved Items.
This comment has already been saved in your Saved Items
Warm Camp   McCarthy himself said “This bill is to get us to the negotiations.  It is not the final provisions".  It's a retrumplican messaging bill, not a serious bill meant/expected to be passable.  It's the 1st offering made in haggling.
 
Are you sure you want to delete this chart?
 
Post
 
Replace the attached chart with a new chart ?
1000
Your ability to comment is currently suspended due to negative user reports. Your status will be reviewed by our moderators.
Please wait a minute before you try to comment again.
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block

Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?

By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.

%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List

Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.

Report this comment

I feel that this comment is:

Comment flagged

Thank You!

Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Continue with Google
or
Sign up with Email