With the danger of default looming, some centrist Democrats are slowly splitting from President Joe Biden over his apparent refusal to negotiate on the debt ceiling.
Still siding with Biden on opposition to GOP tactics and demands, a handful of moderate Democrats have started to assert publicly that sitting down with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) could be a first step to end the brinkmanship to save the economy.
MANCHIN PRESSES BIDEN TO NEGOTIATE ON DEBT LIMIT WITH REPUBLICANS
"Of course, President Biden should sit down with Speaker McCarthy. But let me put an idea out there, the proposal that McCarthy has put forward — that belongs in the budget," Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) told CNN's State of the Union. "Our main goal right now is to make clear that we are going to avoid default."
Biden and McCarthy last met back in February. The White House has maintained that "raising the debt ceiling is not a negotiation," seemingly trying to avoid a repeat of the 2011 battle over the debt ceiling.
The president has been adamant that McCarthy should lift the nation's borrowing authority without any strings attached, after which the two could discuss the latter's spending demands separately. But McCarthy has vowed that he will "never" advance a "bill that just raises the debt ceiling."
Perhaps the most vocal proponent of Biden negotiating with McCarthy is Sen. Joe Manchin (I-WV), a frequent thorn in Biden's side. Manchin is staring down one of the toughest Senate reelection bids of his career, should he run.
"Our elected leaders must stop with the political games, work together and negotiate a compromise. Instead, it has been more than 78 days since President Biden last met with Speaker McCarthy," Manchin said in a statement last week. "This signals a deficiency of leadership, and it must change."
Although some have urged Biden to negotiate, they did ask him to sit down with McCarthy.
"I think it's critically important now more than ever that both sides sit down," Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) told CNN. "The idea that we would ever default has to be off the table, and we can have a serious conversation about our fiscal health, our fiscal future."
Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH) told Politico that he didn't think there was "any harm in the two of them sitting down to talk."
“The idea that we’re even coming this close to a potential default is insane," he said.
Last week, McCarthy rolled out his plan to tackle the debt ceiling, following weeks of Biden criticizing him for not having a plan.
His proposal would return funding for government agencies to fiscal 2022 levels and cap annual increases to about 1% a year, with a carveout for the Pentagon. It would also scrap Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, cut bolstered IRS funding, rescind unused COVID-19 funds, nix certain green energy tax credits, and add work requirements for social safety programs.
In total, McCarthy estimates his plan will save $4.5 trillion over the next decade, but official estimates have not yet come out. Already, members of his caucus appear to be in disagreement over the package. Democrats have mused that he won't even have the Republican votes needed to clear the House.
“I’m not sure [McCarthy] the votes for it or not,” Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) told Fox News Sunday. "I don’t think there are some Republicans that want to vote to cut education, reduce veterans spending by 22 percent."
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Back in January, the United States reached its $31.4 trillion debt limit, but the Treasury Department has been undertaking "extraordinary" measures to keep money flowing to government programs. Those measures are expected to run dry between June and August, according to various estimates.
If that were to happen, many economists fear the government will not be able to make critical payments, particularly on the interest on the debt, which would cause a default. The precise ramifications of a national default are not fully known. Congress already set its budgeting parameters for the current fiscal year late last year, and it includes deficit spending.