A Lot at Stake During Today’s In-person White House Debt Ceiling Meeting

Debt ceiling negotiations between the White House and congressional Republicans have reportedly hit an impasse. That was the headline news out of the hill papers this past weekend as the two sides work to rein in wasteful spending and responsibly address the debt ceiling to avoid a default. Now with White House and House GOP negotiators scheduled to meet today, it is imperative that both sides make progress towards a compromise. As the clock ticks, we are in the midst of a dangerous game of political brinkmanship. 

The potential failure of this aministration to find agreement with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) would be devastating for the country. The US would experience a significant drop in credit rating, job losses, a shock to capital markets, and a severe hit to the already teetering housing market. The American people would suffer needlessly from a debt default, and it would further erode the public’s confidence in Washington’s ability to govern responsibly.

To his under-appreciated credit, Speaker McCarthy shepherded passage of the Limit, Save, Grow Act though the House – uniting frontline moderates and the House Freedom Caucus. The Republican proposal includes reasonable caps to wasteful spending, pro-growth permitting reform, and recoups unspent COVID-19 funding now that the public health emergency has concluded. Importantly, it also takes the prospect of hitting the debt ceiling off the table to ensure America pay its debts. 

Meanwhile, the Democrat-controlled Senate has not done a single thing to address the fast-approaching date at which the extraordinary measures the Treasury is utilizing to satisfy debt payments are exhausted. At the same time, President Biden jetted off to Asia instead of being the one to lead the negotiations. Yet, incredulously, just this weekend the president tweeted that Republicans are the ones “threatening a default.” 

It’s disappointing that the president is choosing to play politics and point blame when he personally signed into law $4.8 trillion worth of new spending, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. 

While it’s encouraging that the two sides will meet this afternoon for further talks, the White House needs to soften its position and take this issue seriously. It needs to take tax hikes off the table, recognize our spending trajectory is unsustainable, and be open to re-evaluating spending enacted by his signature. This afternoon’s meeting must yield progress towards a deal that can pass both houses of Congress.