(AmericanProsperity.com) – New House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) met with President Joe Biden on January 30, for key discussions about the government’s finances. Biden wants to borrow more money for his spending plans, and McCarthy wants the government to be more responsible. If they can’t find a compromise, the US could be forced to default on its debts.
President Biden said he plans to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to discuss raising the debt ceiling despite his firm demands earlier this week that Congress raise the nation's borrowing limit "without conditions." https://t.co/W64b0RkmMp
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) January 21, 2023
On January 29, McCarthy told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that he and the president agreed to the meeting to discuss balancing the government’s books. Biden has been pushing for an increase in the federal government’s $31.4 trillion debt limit, which was reached on January 19. For now, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is fending off a default by diverting money from federal retirement funds into other spending, but a longer-term solution has to be found. Biden wants Congress to pass a law raising the debt limit — but McCarthy, with a Republican-majority House behind him, wants the government to cut spending first.
So far, Biden has been resisting any compromise on spending, but on January 27, he hinted that he might be willing to talk, saying that if the US can’t make its debt repayments, it will be “a calamity that exceeds anything that’s ever happened financially.” Meanwhile, the administration is trying to crank up the pressure on McCarthy, with Biden talking about McCarthy’s “Constitutional obligation” to avoid a default and White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisting that raising the debt ceiling is “an obligation.”
McCarthy has said that cuts to Social Security and Medicare are “off the table,” but he’s determined to make the White House cut other spending. One of his promises during his campaign for the speakership was a pledge to hold federal spending to 2022 levels, which would mean an 8% cut in Biden’s 2023 plans. So far, Biden insists he’s not willing to negotiate cuts in exchange for a debt limit increase. But, to get that increase, he needs McCarthy’s support — and that could come with a price.
It remains to be seen if the meeting had a positive outcome or not.
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