Congressional Democrats are anxious about a potential default on the national debt, but are sticking with President Biden in his refusal to negotiate with House Republicans on cutting spending in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.
On the day after House Republicans passed a plan to raise the nation’s borrowing limit and cut spending, Democratic lawmakers were not talking about possible compromise with the GOP. Democrats said the prospect of the government defaulting on its ability to pay interest on the more than $31 trillion national debt should not be taken lightly.
“I think we need to focus on the debt ceiling,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Democrat. “There’s an urgency here that absolutely requires immediate attention.”
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, doubled down on his view that the GOP proposal is “dead on arrival” in the Senate and questioned House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s sincerity in wanting to negotiate.
“If anything, the House’s actions have made the likelihood of default more likely,” Mr. Schumer said. “It locks the House into an unacceptable position and pulls us even further apart.”
Mr. Blumenthal said there would be no harm in Mr. Biden beginning negotiations with House Republicans. But he said he is sticking with Mr. Schumer’s position that there should be no consideration of the House GOP bill.
“I think the president should sit down with Kevin McCarthy to talk about the debt ceiling,” said Mr. Blumenthal. “And then at some later point, talk about the budget. Senator Schumer is the master of legislative timing. I’m not about to advise him about when and how he should do it. But he has been absolutely steadfast and I totally agree with his position, which is we need to raise the debt ceiling.”
Sen. Mark Kelly said it was troubling that the country was already so close to default without a resolution.
“We can’t be defaulting on our debt,” said Mr. Kelly, Arizona Democrat. “To even get this close is not an option.”
Complicating matters is that lawmakers do not have a clear date by which Congress must raise the debt ceiling. The U.S. Treasury Department began taking “extraordinary measures” in January to stave off default when the government hit its $31.4 trillion borrowing capacity.
Those emergency tactics are expected to give the government enough breathing room to cover day-to-day expenses until at least the end of June. The exact time frame has been put in doubt in recent weeks as incoming tax revenue has proved lower than originally expected by economists.
“No one knows exactly how much [time we have]… it’s going to take some gyrations,” said Sen. John Hickenlooper, Colorado Democrat.
Despite admitting concern about a first-ever default, most Democrats say that Mr. Biden is right in refusing to negotiate with House Republicans until they pass a clean debt limit bill without conditions.
“There’s not a clear answer, except to say let’s just take this [default] off the table and let’s then roll up our sleeves and get to work on whatever a negotiated budget will look like,” said Mr. Hickenlooper.
Some Democrats, such as Sens. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, have said even before the House passed its measure that Mr. Biden should sit down with Mr. McCarthy. But Ms. Klobuchar said they should negotiate on the fiscal 2024 budget separately, not on the debt limit.
Sen. Tim Kaine said that even if they raised the debt limit first, Republicans would be in a good position to negotiate fiscal cuts by the very nature of their control of the House.
“I think the right answer is still to raise the debt ceiling and then have a really tough budget negotiation, but not allowing Republicans to threaten default to get their budget negotiations,” said Mr. Kaine, Virginia Democrat who sits on the Senate Budget Committee. “Republicans have enormous leverage in a budget negotiation.”
Republicans are refusing to budge on raising the debt limit without adequate spending cuts.
Mr. McCarthy pushed through legislation on Wednesday hiking the debt limit by $1.5 trillion until May 2024, while slashing $4.8 trillion in spending.
“Now, the president can no longer put this economy in jeopardy,” said Mr. McCarthy. “We have lifted the debt limit, we have done our job, we are the only body that passed anything. ”
The speaker said of Mr. Biden, “Not only did we show you a plan, we’re the only ones to pass a plan — so I think it’s up to you now. Republicans raised the debt limit. You have not. Neither has [Senate Majority Leader] Schumer.”
The Senate Republicans’ campaign committee also revived Mr. Biden’s 2020 campaign pledges that he was a master deal-maker with the GOP during his decades in the Senate.
“I know how to make government work,” Mr. Biden said on the campaign trail in 2019. “Not because I’ve talked or tweeted about it, but because I’ve done it. I’ve worked across the aisle to reach consensus, to help make government work in the past. I can do that again with your help.”
Overall, the House GOP bill would raise the debt limit and cut federal spending by $130 billion for the upcoming fiscal year, and limit budget growth to 1% annually over the next decade. It also would rescind at least $90.5 billion in unspent pandemic relief, cancel Mr. Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, and scrap green energy tax credits that Democrats passed last year.
Beyond cutting spending, the legislation overhauls the nation’s energy-permitting laws, imposes work requirements on social welfare programs, and requires congressional approval for any new regulations with an economic impact of more than $100 million per year.
“If you look at this package, it represents the most common sense, straightforward approach to addressing the spending problem that got us here as we confront the debt ceiling,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Louisiana Republican.
Mr. Biden has said he will veto the bill if it reaches his desk. The president has for months refused to negotiate on raising the debt limit, saying both Democrats and Republicans contributed to the national debt.
“They’re putting our economy in jeopardy by threatening to refuse to pay America’s bills that took 200 years to accumulate by the way,” said Mr. Biden. “Not this year, last year, [but] 200 years.”
• Haris Alic can be reached at halic@washingtontimes.com.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.