Negotiations between top White House congressional officials and Republicans over a deal to raise the debt ceiling resumed on Friday just hours after Republican leaders in the House of Representatives said it’s time to “pause,” complaining that President Biden’s team has been unreasonable and unable to make progress. make.
The abrupt turn reflects the unwieldy state of negotiations for a bipartisan agreement to avert a possible default as soon as June 1. Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Friday night announced talks had resumed after venting frustration with the White House earlier in the day. The negotiations then ended about an hour after they resumed, and it is unclear when the negotiators plan to meet again.
The hour-long meeting ended a tense day on Capitol Hill, as negotiators seeking a solution to avoid the first default in the nation’s history repeatedly restarted and ended meetings. discussions, and Republicans show signs of growing exasperation around the spending cap talks.
“It’s frustrating if they want to come into the room and think we’re going to spend more money next year than this year,” McCarthy, a California Republican, said on Fox Business Friday night, as he announced that his deputies would return to the negotiating table. “That’s not true, and that’s not going to happen.”
Earlier in the day, Mr. McCarthy and one of his top advisers announced that they were suspending the negotiations, saying that White House officials would not give in on spending cuts. “We have to have the movement of the White House, and we don’t have any movement,” McCarthy said.
His comments marked a departure from his tone just a day earlier, when he told reporters he could see a path to an agreement in principle as early as late. week.
Still, Friday night’s return to the negotiating table underscored the growing urgency to find a solution as Congress runs out of time to avoid the nation’s first and catastrophic default. economic disaster may ensue.
Once a deal is in place, it will take time to translate it into law and get it through Congress for Mr. Biden to sign. Mr. McCarthy promised his conference that he would give lawmakers 72 hours to read the bill before they vote it through.
Republicans hinted that the main cause of their frustration was the strict way of limiting federal spending. The bill that the Republican House of Representatives passed last month would raise the nation’s borrowing limit next year in exchange for spending freeze at last year’s level over a decade – this would result in an average cut of 18 percent.
The bill is a dead letter in the Democratic-controlled Senate, but the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus announced Thursday that Republicans should insist that it be approved. through.
“There is no further discussion about reducing it,” the group said in a tweet. “Stage.”
White House officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the private negotiations, acknowledged that there were significant differences between the parties, including around Mr. McCarthy’s stance on the limit. federal spending.
Former President Donald J. Trump also weighed in on Friday on Truth Social, the social media website he founded, claiming that Republicans shouldn’t agree on a debt ceiling unless they get everything they want.
“NO URSE!!!” he wrote.
Negotiators have disagreed on a number of issues, including the extent to which a viable deal would include tougher work requirements for social safety net programs – a proposal has attracted much attention. Backlash from Progressive Democrats — and the duration of any debt limit extensions.
Conservatives in the GOP House conference in recent days have grown increasingly concerned that Mr McCarthy will agree to a deal that freezes spending at current levels, rather than last year’s levels, and won’t lock up clamp down on the kind of spending cuts they’ve long wanted. agitation.
Zolan Kanno-Youngs contribution report.
