WASHINGTON, Feb 6 (Reuters) – Republican Speaker of the U.S. House Kevin McCarthy has called on Democratic President Joe Biden to agree to compromises and spending cuts, as the two remain deadlocked on the raising the national debt ceiling by $31.4 trillion.
McCarthy spoke on Monday before Biden delivers the annual State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, in a bid to get ahead of the president and bolster his role as the chief negotiator in Congress.
The White House said Biden would discuss federal spending cuts with Republicans, but only after the debt ceiling is lifted, while McCarthy said Republicans would only raise the ceiling if Biden agreed to cut spending. If the two sides disagree on the order of topics they discuss, both say they will continue to talk to each other.
“Mr. President, it’s time to get to work,” said McCarthy, whose Republicans won a slim majority in the House of Representatives in November’s election.
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“We must commit to finding common ground on a responsible debt ceiling increase. Finding a compromise is exactly how American governance is meant to work, and exactly what the American people voted for a long time ago. just three months,” McCarthy said.
“Defaulting our debt is not an option, but a future with higher taxes, higher interest rates and an economy that doesn’t work either.
House Republicans want to use the debt ceiling, which covers spending programs and tax cuts previously approved by Congress, as leverage to push spending cuts, after two years of Democratic control of the House and of the Senate.
Biden is expected to insist on Tuesday that raising the debt ceiling is non-negotiable and that U.S. lawmakers should not use it as a “bargaining chip,” his top economic adviser Brian Deese said on Monday. .
“This fundamental idea that the United States has fulfilled all of its financial obligations for its existence as a country is not something anyone should use as a bargaining chip. It’s not a negotiable item,” he said. said Deese.
Biden appeared to question McCarthy’s ability to keep Republicans in line last week, calling McCarthy “a decent man, I think,” but noting the concessions he made to become president in January. These included changing a house rule to allow any member to request a vote that would impeach them, rather than requiring a majority of either party.
Despite what appears to be a stalemate, McCarthy walked out of a meeting with Biden last week saying he thought the two could find common ground.
A day later, McCarthy told reporters that the president had agreed to meet again.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the White House has been in touch with McCarthy’s staff about next steps.
(This story has been corrected to change the title to clarify that McCarthy is seeking a debt ceiling compromise, not debt ceiling cuts)
Reporting by David Morgan; Additional reporting by Doina Chiacu and Rami Ayyub; Editing by Scott Malone, Jonathan Oatis and Josie Kao
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