President Joe Biden on Monday finally requested that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) negotiate the debt limit during a meeting to be held on May 9 to avoid default, a move that contradicted the White House’s previous official position.
While traveling in Israel, McCarthy received a call from Biden to schedule a meeting to negotiate raising the debt limit after days of stonewalling tactics, Punchbowl News reported.
“We are not negotiating on this,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Thursday. “We’ve been very clear on this.”
On Wednesday, McCarthy and House Republicans passed a bill to raise the debt limit. Reports indicated the Biden administration was taken by surprise when McCarthy successfully passed the bill. McCarthy’s unpredicted victory apparently left the Biden administration flat-footed.
“It’s not a plan,” Jean-Pierre said Monday about the House’s bill. “It’s a recipe for economic disaster.”
“They [House Republicans] need to do their job. Congress must act,” she said. “It is their constitutional duty.” Read more…
