McConnell: President Biden Needs To Strike a Deal With the Speaker
‘There’s no reason why our country should be drifting towards crisis. The solution is clear. It’s been clear for months. President Biden needs to negotiate on spending with Speaker McCarthy.'
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued the following statement today regarding the debt limit:
“Seven of the last 10 debt limit increases were attached to bipartisan government spending deals.
“All three of the debt limit increases from 2017 through 2020 were attached to bipartisan government spending deals.
“There’s no reason why our country should be drifting towards crisis. The solution is clear. It’s been clear for months.
“President Biden needs to negotiate on spending with Speaker McCarthy.
“The Speaker’s been at the table since February. House Republicans are the only people in town who have passed any bill that prevents default.
“But President Biden has been M.I.A.
“House and Senate Democrats have no plan. No proposal. They have no bill to raise the debt ceiling that could pass either the House or the Senate, let alone both.
“So the choice is President Biden’s:
“Either he drives the country into default, or he comes to the table.
“Four years ago, in 2019, the roles were reversed. Republicans held the White House. Democrats held the House. I was the Majority Leader.
“And my advice to the President then was the same as my advice to the President now: Raise the debt limit by negotiating spending levels with the Speaker.
“That Administration listened. They sent Secretary Mnuchin to hammer out a caps deal with Speaker Pelosi. They struck a compromise. Spending levels were set and the debt limit was raised.
“That’s what a responsible Senate Majority Leader would be telling the Biden White House today: Sit down with the Speaker and strike a deal.
“Any compromise fleshed out by the Republican House and the Democratic White House will pass the Senate easily. So President Biden’s actions will either prevent default or guarantee default.
“It’s that simple. It’s up to the President.
“Either President Biden causes an economic disaster of his own creation, or he picks up the 2019 playbook and negotiates with Speaker McCarthy.
“Everybody knows this is on President Biden.
“Rank-and-file House and Senate Democrats have publicly called on the White House to negotiate.
“The Washington Post ran an entire editorial entitled ‘It’s time for Biden to call McCarthy’!
“Last week, an entire news story detailed how the White House is garnering no support from nonpartisan leaders or experts for their bizarre strategy of sleepwalking into disaster.
“The people around President Biden, including the Senate Democratic Leader, seem to think they can wish away the results of the midterm election. They want to pretend the American people didn’t flip the House.
“That’s not how this works. In divided government, you negotiate. The President and the Speaker need to talk, just like in 2019.
“We need a bipartisan spending agreement, just like 7 of the previous 10 debt limit deals.
“I’ll be joining the White House meeting later today, and I’ll continue to support the Speaker.”
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