The debt limit negotiations between aides for President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy were put on pause Friday amid an impasse over spending cuts.
Mr. McCarthy’s hand-picked negotiator walked out of a meeting with White House staff at the Capitol, saying there was no point in continuing the talks until both sides were serious about a deal.
“Until people are willing to have reasonable conversations about how you can actually move forward and do the right thing, then we’re not gonna sit here and talk to ourselves,” said Rep. Garret Graves, Louisiana Republican.
A source close to the talks told The Washington Times that negotiators had hit an “impasse” on several fronts, namely work requirements for welfare, caps on future spending growth, and budget cuts.
As the talks hit a snag, Mr. Biden is in Japan attending the G7 summit. Negotiators are facing a June 1 deadline to raise the nation’s borrowing limit of $31.4 trillion, or the U.S. will default on some of its obligations.
The breakdown comes as House Republicans are under pressure to deliver a debt limit deal that can unite their disparate conference. On Thursday, the more than 40-member House Freedom Caucus called for a suspension of negotiations.
Rather than negotiate, the conservative group said Mr. McCarthy should push for the wholesale adoption of the debt-limit legislation passed by House Republicans last month.
“This legislation is the official position of the House Freedom Caucus and, by its passage with 217 votes, the entire House Republican Conference,” the group said in a statement. “There should be no further discussion until the Senate passes the legislation.”
The legislation would cut spending by $4.8 trillion while capping spending growth at 1% over the next decade. It would also rescind Mr. Biden‘s green energy tax credits and impose work requirements on food stamps, Medicaid, and cash payments.
Mr. Biden has ruled out accepting work requirements on Medicaid and food stamps and is opposed to scrapping green energy tax credits. The White House is also pushing for a two-year deal on spending caps.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry told CBS News that the White House was not negotiating in good faith.
“Until they’re willing to tell us what they’re willing to do, it’s hard to come to an agreement,” said Mr. Perry. “We should probably compromise on something — but there’s nothing to compromise with. They haven’t asked anything.”
The Freedom Caucus nearly tanked Mr. McCarthy’s speakership bid earlier this year. In exchange for allowing Mr. McCarthy’s ascension, conservatives pushed through a rules package that decentralized the power of congressional leadership.
The crux of the overhaul rests on a provision allowing any lawmaker to force a vote on retaining the speaker. Given the narrow Republican majority, Mr. McCarthy can only lose four GOP lawmakers on any single House vote before having to rely on Democrats.
• Haris Alic can be reached at halic@washingtontimes.com.