House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) panned President Joe Biden‘s roughly $6.9 trillion budget proposal as “not serious” and warned him not to “play games with the debt ceiling.”
McCarthy contended that Biden’s budget proposal would be dead on arrival in the House and speculated that even Democrats “won’t even vote for this.” The speaker also reiterated his long-standing calls for Biden to negotiate a budgeting agreement with him to avert a debt ceiling crisis.
BIDEN PROPOSES NEARLY $7 TRILLION TAX-AND-SPEND BUDGET THAT WOULD NOT STABILIZE THE DEBT
“This budget talks more about equality and climate change than it does dealing with China dealing with fentanyl, dealing with putting our workforce back in the workplace. That is a real challenge,” McCarthy said on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.
“To have a nonserious budget and for a president not to show the leadership to sit down and solve this problem early only weakens America,” McCarthy added.
Biden’s roughly $6.9 trillion budget released last week was an opening act in the looming budget showdown with Republicans. It outlined a slew of progressive wishlist items, such as bolstered spending for Medicare and Social Security, as well as a revival of “Build Back Better” agenda items such as prescription drug reform, child care spending, community college funding, and more.
The White House estimates the budget proposal would reduce the deficit by $2.9 trillion by 2033. The budget features a myriad of tax increase measures, including on capital gains, billionaires, and corporations, measures that have been roundly scorned by Republicans.
Biden has criticized Republicans for not presenting a budget of their own. McCarthy has not laid out a clear timeline for presenting an alternative, but Budget Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX) has indicated the panel will likely be unable to meet the April 15 deadline to adopt a budget resolution.
“Don’t play games with the debt ceiling. I’ve sat with this president. I want to negotiate with this president. This is [what] we’ve done every time before an American public wants us to,” McCarthy added.
Republicans and Democrats have been at odds over how to increase the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, which was reached in January. The Treasury Department has undergone “extraordinary measures” of moving money around from government accounts to keep payments flowing, but those techniques are expected to run their course by June.
The president previously insisted that he would not negotiate with McCarthy and demanded a clean debt ceiling bill, though he has met with McCarthy to discuss the debt ceiling. Republicans have sought to pair an increase in the debt limit with a clawback in federal spending.
Congress approved spending measures last year that rely on over $1 trillion in deficit spending. Should the United States fail to increase its borrowing authority, there is a risk of defaulting on the national debt, which could unleash havoc upon the economy.
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McCarthy urged Biden to crack down on wasteful spending without outlining specifics and decried Biden for weakening the U.S.
“This is an opportunity for this president not to just show leadership to America but to the rest of the world, and we’re just not seeing it,” he continued.
