Global Courant 2023-05-23 20:35:35
US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) addresses the media as he leaves a debt ceiling meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington, DC, on May 22, 2023.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — A sizable group of House Republicans raised questions on Tuesday about whether the Treasury Department’s June 1 deadline to avoid a possible default on the U.S. debt was right.
“We would like to see more transparency on how they get to that date,” said House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise at a press conference Tuesday.
Scalise also said he believes Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s latest comments, published Monday, “implied it’s June 1 or later, lending some openness to the idea that June 1 may not be the so-called X-date .”
Yellen released a new letter to congressional leaders on Monday that appeared to say the opposite of what Scalise claimed, specifically omitting a line from an earlier letter about how extraordinary measures could give the United States more time to avoid defaulting on its debts. default.
“We haven’t really been able to see a lot of transparency, but it looks like they’re closing in now and opening the door to pushing that date back,” Scalise said.
A spokesman for the Treasury Department declined to comment.
On Capitol Hill, debt ceiling negotiators prepared to narrow their focus to a smaller group of key issues ripe for compromise, an encouraging development with just nine days to go before the US faced the serious risk of a potentially catastrophic national debt.
“We’re getting closer,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters late Monday, adding that the “circle” of problems was getting “smaller, smaller, smaller.”
Issues still on the table Tuesday included energy licensing reforms, new work requirements for some forms of federal aid and the redistribution of unused Covid-19 emergency funds.
Also on the table are “health savings,” CNBC reported Monday, including reforms to how much the government pays health care companies under several major federal health insurance plans.
U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, center, speaks to members of the media upon arrival at the Capitol in Washington, DC, U.S., on Tuesday, May 23, 2023.
Nathan Howard | Bloomberg | Getty Images
McCarthy met with President Joe Biden on Monday afternoon, a face-to-face meeting both sides described as “prolific” but who failed to close the deal to raise the debt limit that financial markets and global investors are counting on.
House Republicans held their weekly conference meeting Tuesday morning, during which McCarthy reportedly said they were “a long way from a deal” and urged the caucus to stick together and support whatever deal he eventually achieves.
“Less than 10 days after bankruptcy, Joe Biden has yet to offer or accept our sensible solution that raises the debt ceiling and addresses our debt crisis,” said Elise Stefanik, NY, Speaker of the House Republican Conference Tuesday.
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A Republican negotiator, Rep. Patrick McHenry, NC, told reporters spending was still the biggest hurdle to a deal.
“The fundamental issue here is the spending. This is not about game skill,” McHenry said Tuesday outside the Republican National Committee. “This is about closing a deal before the deadline that meets the Speaker’s message that next year we will spend less money than we are spending now.”
Biden hopes to reach a debt limit agreement that would extend the next deadline after the 2024 presidential election. But House Republicans, who have only approved an annual increase so far, say if Biden wants more time, he’ll have to agree to even more cuts.
This is an evolving story. Check back later for updates.
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