House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told reporters Monday that President Joe Biden has not contacted him about negotiating on the debt ceiling after the House passed legislation to raise the debt limit.
While traveling in Israel, McCarthy was asked if the Biden administration had reached out to speak about debt negotiations.
“The president still hasn’t talked to me,” McCarthy said.
“I’m a little like Netanyahu,” he added in reference to Biden’s refusal to also speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after his recent election victory.
The United States and Israel share a special relationship: we are the only two countries in history that were conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that we are all equal. I know the best days for Israel—and our unbreakable bond—are ahead of us. 🇺🇸🇱 pic.twitter.com/Zq63vDzLHw
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) May 1, 2023
On Wednesday, House Republicans successfully passed a bill to raise the debt ceiling to avoid default, a victorious vote that apparently caught the Biden administration off guard.
🚨 BREAKING 🚨 House Republicans just passed the only plan in Washington that
1. Lifts the debt ceiling
2. Stops wasteful spending and inflation
3. Puts America back on trackNow Democrats should do their job.
Tune in for my press conference soon https://t.co/vmn31INPH5
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) April 26, 2023
One day after the House passed a bill to raise the debt limit to avoid default, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre slammed House Republicans for not avoiding default by raising the debt limit after House Republicans passed the bill to raise the debt limit to avoid default.
“It is their [House Republicans’] constitutional duty to take action,” she said. “We are not negotiating on this.”
Tune in for a briefing with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. https://t.co/rM4fMQbWYz
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 27, 2023
A reporter questioned Jean-Pierre why the White House was seemingly ignoring the Republicans’ bill.
“They need to deal with what is a stake here … which is making sure we do not default,” Jean-Pierre said. “Again, this is something that they need to do.”
Biden’s refusal to negotiate with Republicans on the debt ceiling comes after Biden led negations and boasted about raising the debt ceiling in 2011.
The 2011 debt ceiling negotiations consumed Washington in a showdown between “tea party” House Republicans and the Obama administration. Biden was the chief negotiator on the deal, which was only resolved in the eleventh hour as Senate Republicans and some Democrats created a ‘Super Committee’ to recommend reductions and ensure there would be no debt default.
While Biden remains silent on debt negations 12 years later, the president’s position appears to coincide with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) initiative to hold hearings about the House bill.
The Democrat-controlled hearings will push back on the legislation in a public relations effort to condemn the bill. Schumer has refused to hold a vote on the bill.
Despite the tactics, many Democrats have pleaded with Biden to negotiate with House Republicans.
WATCH: GOP Rep. McHenry: I Don’t See How We Avoid Debt Default Since Biden Won’t Engage in Same Talks He Engaged in and Praised in 2011:
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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