WASHINGTON (AP) – After a White House meeting with no serious breakthrough on the debt ceiling impasse, President Joe Biden is launching a new phase of his pressure campaign against House Republicans as he makes his case that lawmakers The country’s lending authority should take the lead without any strings attached.
Biden will travel to Valhalla, New York, on Wednesday to argue a measure passed by House GOP lawmakers that would extend the debt ceiling for about a year while curbing some federal spending, including veterans care, teachers and other domestic Will make the cut for preferences. The area is represented by first-time Republican Representative Mike Lawler, whose district was won by Biden in 2020.
The White House will use the trip to tout economic progress under the Democratic president – pointing to the number of jobs created during his term and a renewed focus on domestic manufacturing – while warning that an unprecedented debt Lakhs of jobs will be at risk by default. and increase the likelihood of recession.
Back in Washington, senior White House officials and congressional aides prepare for another meeting between Biden and top Capitol Hill leaders later this week, on a path to averting a catastrophic debt default as soon as June 1. were starting to discuss. But House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., showed some signs that he and House Republicans were willing to budge from their debt limit proposal, and Biden again underlined that his plan was a nonstarter with them.
Biden told reporters after his meeting with McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Minority Leader Hakeem Jefferies, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch Mitch, “They have proposed deep cuts, Which I believe will harm American families.” McConnell, R-Q.
Biden will also invoke the specter of cuts to veterans’ care in his remarks, an issue that has become particularly sensitive in the back-and-forth rhetoric between the White House and congressional Republicans. When the president suggested during the meeting that the House GOP plan could benefit veterans, McCarthy shot back, telling reporters that was a “lie”. But Biden disputed that was a fallacy, saying cuts across the board would affect veterans care and other critical domestic programs.
The impasse comes as the US government is increasingly bumping up against its legal borrowing authority, meaning it may not be able to pay its bills as early as next month unless lawmakers agree to lift the limit. are not
Biden is scheduled to spend a week abroad later this month visiting Japan, Australia and Papua New Guinea. He added that postponing his visit was “possible but not likely.”
With loan talks showing minimal progress, the White House hopes Biden’s public relations campaign – launching in a congressional district that will be crucial to Democrats seeking to wrest House control from Republicans next year – will lead to GOP Increases pressure on MPs who can’t afford to politicize liberal voters away. Lawler, one of 18 House Republicans to come from a congressional district won by Biden, is a prime target for the White House.
Still, Lawler accepted the invitation from the White House, “perhaps to his surprise,” the lawmaker said in an interview Tuesday. He said it was “a little disappointing” that Biden was spending his time traveling his district instead of conversing with other leaders in Washington.
“No one wants to see us default. Nobody wants to see us raising the debt ceiling. But they also don’t want to see us continue to spend money that we don’t have,” Lawler said. “When I talk to people in my community, in my district, they agree with my stance “
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday, despite Lawler’s attendance at Westchester Community College, that Biden “is always going to be honest with the American people.”
“The president is going to address the implications of these current discussions that we’re having — the economy, how it affects real hardworking Americans. That’s what you’re going to hear from the president,” she said. “He’ll be very clear about this. He will be clear about what could potentially happen.”
House Republicans, in their debt measure passed in April, target $4.5 trillion in deficit savings through spending cuts, eliminating tax breaks for investing in clean energy, and undoing a Biden administration proposal. that will forgive student loan debt. The White House has made it clear that Biden will veto that law.
Democrats, who control the Senate 51-49, are seeking a “clean” debt ceiling increase without any conditions such as spending cuts, but any such measure would require the support of at least nine Republican senators. would be required, and most of them say they would oppose doing so.
While in New York on Wednesday, Biden, who formalized his re-election campaign on April 25, will also hold a pair of fundraising events.
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AP Congressional reporter Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
Seung Min Kim, The Associated Press
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