Biden to Meet With McCarthy Regarding Debt Ceiling

(UnitedVoice.com) – Before the end of the 117th Congress, Senate Republicans voted with Democrats to raise the debt ceiling. The Freedom Caucus in the House was furious. Now that they’re in charge in the Lower Chamber, many Conservatives have made it clear they don’t intend to raise it again. President Joe Biden has now agreed to meet with the House Speaker regarding the matter.

On Friday, January 20, POLITICO reported Biden said he was going to “have a little discussion” about raising the debt ceiling with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). The POTUS told a White House event with city mayors that if lawmakers don’t agree to a deal, then the country would “renege” on its debts for the first time.

The president has agreed to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, even as Biden maintains the U.S. should not haggle over preventing a default.https://t.co/PMjTEYDZbr

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 22, 2023

The debt ceiling is the total amount of money Congress has authorized the government to borrow to meet its legal obligations. That includes the money it needs to pay tax refunds, military pay, interest on the national debt, and other important bills the government has already approved. It is not new spending, but rather just the money needed to cover its debt. Some of the programs covered by debt payments include things like the pandemic bills passed by both Biden and former President Donald Trump.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the US has until at least June to increase the debt limit. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” to discuss the issue. She said the fight over the debt ceiling demonstrates “the budget process isn’t working because [America hasn’t] had a budget in decades.”

The Washington Post reported House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) told Fox News that lawmakers “can’t just increase the debt limit” and let things proceed as they have been.

It’s unclear when the meeting between the president and McCarthy might take place.