Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) slammed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for, in her view, taking the United States economy "hostage" during debt ceiling negotiations.
Ocasio-Cortez called McCarthy's demands connected to raising the debt ceiling "profoundly irresponsible" and claimed that Democrats should not negotiate with Republicans.
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"[House Speaker] Kevin McCarthy has taken the entire United States economy hostage in exchange for fake and unfocused demands and it is profoundly irresponsible," Ocasio-Cortez told Politico. "It is posing threats to our economy, it poses a threat to our national security, and I think our chief executive has the responsibility to protect our country."
The White House and Congress have held multiple meetings this week in hopes of striking a deal to avoid the government defaulting for the first time in the country's history. Biden and McCarthy had agreed to a framework of designated negotiators between their teams after a White House meeting earlier this week. Negotiations on the debt ceiling were paused on Friday.
Ocasio-Cortez encouraged the president to use the 14th Amendment, claiming that the Constitution considers it a violation to not repay the United States's debts.
"I think that the grounds for it are legitimate. I think the president should absolutely have it on the table," Ocasio-Cortez said. "I think this is something that transcends ideology among Democrats. We are seeing moderates and progressives coming together and saying, 'We should not be in this situation.' The Constitution tells us that it is a violation to not honor our debts. Period. This is not an area for political negotiation."
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"We're at a difficult moment, and we've got some very serious problems," Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) said. "We're not at a sufficient moment for this package to meet the expectations the speaker set for us."
The U.S. reached its debt limit in January and will need to raise the debt ceiling or come up with an alternate solution by June in order to avoid a default.