Democrats continue to vent over how they have been forced to negotiate with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on a potential debt ceiling deal after months of saying they would not consider discussing such a compromise.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) said that he regrets that Democrats did not raise the debt ceiling during the lame-duck session in 2022 before Republicans formally took back the House in January.
“If I could do one thing different. And I was saying it at the time … ‘Hey, we got the votes,’” Kaine remarked, saying he believes that even the purportedly fiscal hawk Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) would have backed a debt ceiling hike.
A Politico report follows as Republican leadership has said they are “pressing pause” on debt limit talks with Biden.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), a vocal progressive, called on Biden to pull out of the negotiations. He said, “Why are we negotiating? It’s just very frustrating that we have backed ourselves into this corner.”
Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA), a moderate Democrat, said, “The negotiations started when we lost the House.”
Progressive Democrats, led by Rep. Pramila Japayal (D-WA), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), proposed the idea of raising the debt ceiling before Republicans took over the House.
However, a person familiar with the discussion told Politico that the logistics and getting Manchin behind a partisan debt ceiling hike would be unlikely.
So, would Manchin have gone for a Democrat-only debt hike late last year? “You’re speculating about all this hypothetical shit,” the person said.
He added, “It always needs to be bipartisan. But when you can’t get a bipartisan [deal] or have any type of agreement at all? You’ve got to raise the debt ceiling.”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
