Talks between the White House and Speaker Kevin McCarthy on cutting spending and raising the debt limit turned serious Tuesday, with President Biden cutting short a foreign trip and agreeing to exclude Senate Democrats from the negotiating table.
Mr. Biden is set to depart for Wednesday for the Pacific, but shortened his trip so he can return to Washington earlier than planned. The president will meet with G7 leaders in Japan over the weekend as scheduled, but canceled a leg of the trip that was to take him to Australia and Papua New Guinea early next week.
Instead, administration officials announced Tuesday, the president will return to Washington on Monday after the G7 meeting wraps up. The White House said the new schedule would allow Mr. Biden time “to ensure Congress takes action” to raise the debt limit by June 1.
“The president has made clear that members of Congress from both parties and chambers must come together to prevent default, as they have 78 times before,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “The president and his team will continue to work with congressional leadership to deliver a budget agreement that can reach the president’s desk.”
Outside of truncating his foreign travel, Mr. Biden also agreed to cut other congressional leaders out of the debt-limit negotiations and deal directly with the speaker.
Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, said after a White House meeting with Mr. Biden on Tuesday that the decision was a sign of progress.
“The structure of how we negotiate has improved so it now gives you a better opportunity, even though we only have a few days to get it done,” said Mr. McCarthy. “Had we done this 97 days ago, we’d have already passed a bill.”
The decision to narrow the negotiating table came after administration officials met with top staffers for congressional leaders in recent days. While the talks have broached the topic of spending cuts, no breakthrough has emerged.
Allies of Mr. McCarthy have said that part of the obstacle in trying to forge a deal was the fact there were too many voices at the negotiating table. Apart from White House officials and Mr. McCarthy’s lieutenants, also privy to the talks have been staffers of House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
“Do you think [President Donald Trump] wanted to negotiate with Speaker Pelosi in 2019?” said Mr. McConnell, Kentucky Republican. “Of course not … [he had] no choice.”
Mr. Schumer and Mr. Jeffries, both of New York, said the decision to step back from the talks came after securing an agreement from House Republicans that only a bipartisan measure could solve the looming debt limit crisis.
“We all agree that the only path forward is to reach a bipartisan agreement, anchored in common ground,” said Mr. Jeffries. “We all agreed that default is not an acceptable option and must be avoided.”
House Republicans say any deal to hike the debt ceiling should include at least $130 billion in immediate spending cuts. Mr. McCarthy has said that half of that money can be made up by rescinding more than $60 billion in unspent coronavirus relief.
Democrats are open to the clawback, provided it doesn’t impact money that has already been promised to state and local governments.
Republicans also want to expand work requirements for welfare recipients, cap future federal spending, and streamline the permitting process for energy projects. They also want to cancel more than $200 billion in green energy tax credits that Democrats passed last year as part of Mr. Biden‘s signature climate law. Mr. Biden has signaled that the latter demand is a non-starter.
The White House appears open to some of the GOP’s other demands. Negotiators are working to see if they can combine parts of an energy proposal passed by House Republicans this year with a permitting overhaul authored last year by Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, that Mr. Biden endorsed.
There is broad division over capping the growth of federal spending. Republicans want to cap spending growth at 1% for the next decade, while Democrats are pushing for only a two-year agreement.
By far the biggest sticking point at the moment is on expanding work requirements for welfare.
Over the weekend, Mr. Biden opened the door to accepting expanded work requirements, provided they did not cover Medicaid. After opposition from Democrats, the president backtracked slightly Monday, saying he also was opposed to increasing work requirements on elderly food stamp recipients
“Rather than push Americans into poverty, we should reduce the deficit by making sure the wealthy and large corporations pay their fair share in taxes,” said Mr. Biden.
Mr. McCarthy said that for a debt-limit deal to succeed, all work requirements for all programs had to be on the table.
House Republicans are pushing requirements for individuals to work at least 20 hours per week to qualify for Medicaid, food stamps, and direct cash payments. They also want to increase the age limit for work requirements from 49 to 55.
“Remember what we’re talking about — able-bodied people without dependents,” said Mr. McCarthy. “It’s 20 hours per week, you [can] go to school or whatever else. … Work requirements help people get a job.”
Democrats say expanding work requirements on food stamps and Medicaid is a redline, given the country is just coming out of a national pandemic and plagued by inflation.
“We must reject any bill that would increase poverty and take health care away from millions of Americans,” said Sen. Bob Casey, Pennsylvania Democrat.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that Medicaid would save $120 billion over the next decade if recipients were required to work at least 20 hours per week. The savings would come at the expense of 600,000 individuals losing access to Medicaid over the same period.
When it comes to food stamps, the CBO estimates 275,000 people would lose benefits each month under the new requirements.
• Haris Alic can be reached at halic@washingtontimes.com.