Kevin McCarthy calls Biden ‘missing’ from debt talks

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) pressed President Biden on Tuesday to kickstart talks over raising the nation’s debt ceiling, saying the White House has been “completely missing in action” from the negotiations.

“With each passing day, I am incredibly concerned that you are putting an already fragile economy in jeopardy by insisting upon your extreme position of refusing to negotiate any meaningful changes to out-of-control government spending alongside an increase of the debt limit,” McCarthy said in a letter.

The GOP leader added that House Republicans were “united” in wanting to “limit spending, save taxpayer money and grow the economy,” and he suggested that Biden adopt policies similar to those he championed as vice president during debt negotiations in 2011.

Among other measures, McCarthy suggested the government should reclaim unspent COVID stimulus money, strengthen federal work requirements to collect unemployment benefits, and cut non-defense spending to pre-inflationary levels — proposals that could save hundreds of billions of dollars.

House Budget Committee chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) initially floated the idea to change eligibility for federal food benefits programs based on participation in the workforce.

“We need to go back to the Clinton-era welfare-to-work reforms,” the representative said in February.

McCarthy later told CNBC that Republicans are ready to propose another $4 trillion in federal spending cuts once Biden agrees to meet.

“If the president would have a meeting, I would have all the $4 trillion sitting there and provided to you,” he said, “the difference, is he wants to play politics and I do not. I think we should be adults here.”

The government reached its debt limit of more than $31 trillion in January, placing a limit on its ability to borrow funds for programs such as Social Security and Medicare.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that month the borrowing limit will need to be increased by June at the latest.

The last vote to raise the ceiling was in December 2021.

“We cannot solve the nation’s fiscal problems overnight, and House Republicans are not demanding we do so,” McCarthy said in his letter.

“But we cannot continue to kick the can down the road and ignore America’s ballooning national debt, all while you continue to spend trillions more, including through unaccountable executive fiat.”

“It’s time to drop the partisanship, roll up our sleeves, and find common ground on this urgent challenge,” he added.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded in a statement that Republicans were “playing games” and “threatening our economic recovery” rather than moving to “pass a clean debt ceiling bill.”

“The President welcomes a separate conversation about our nation’s fiscal future. Earlier this month, he released a budget that cuts the deficit by nearly $3 trillion while lowering costs for families and investing in America,” she said.

“Speaker McCarthy and his extreme MAGA caucus have refused to put out a budget. All we’ve heard from them is a list of devastating cuts to law enforcement and border security and proposals to take health care away from Americans and raise health care and child care costs.

“All to pay for their tax giveaway to the super-wealthy and corporations. In fact, their proposals don’t reduce the deficit at all.”

McCarthy has repeatedly rebuffed claims from the White House that Republicans are trying to cut Social Security and Medicare amid the talks.

Some Republicans have called for abolishing the FBI to address misconduct and political bias, though it is not a majority position in the caucus.

The speaker’s letter also requested the president “secure our border from the flow of deadly fentanyl that is killing 300 Americans per day.”

Biden last Friday claimed: “MAGA House Republicans” were moving to “slash funding for border security — a move that could allow nearly 900 pounds of fentanyl into our country.”

Under Biden, the national debt has risen more than $4.2 trillion, higher than any two-year period for a president in US history.

That spending also shows no sign of stopping, as Biden unveiled a $6.9 trillion budget in March, potentially forcing the national debt up to $51 trillion by 2033.