The Biden White House is preparing a new line of attack in the debt ceiling fight, claiming that Speaker Kevin McCarthy‘s House-passed proposal shows “defunding law enforcement” is “one of the most high profile legislative actions of their new majority,” in an attempt to turn around an attack that has hurt Democrats in recent elections.
President Joe Biden and his top aides have levied various critiques against McCarthy’s temporary debt limit hike, which also includes large cuts to the Inflation Reduction Act and other signature Biden policies. The House passed McCarthy’s package in late April, increasing calls from the GOP and even some Democrats for Biden to engage McCarthy in spending negotiations.
BIDEN PRESSES THE OFFENSIVE AHEAD OF DEBT LIMIT MEETING WITH MCCARTHY
White House officials tell the Washington Examiner that, alongside highlighting the potential negative impact on veterans programs, they will “be very consistent about” framing McCarthy’s bill as “the biggest vote to defund law enforcement in American history.”
White House spokesman Andrew Bates outlines the latest attack in a memo obtained by the Washington Examiner Wednesday, which is expected to be distributed to relevant parties later in the day. The memo specifically notes that “nearly every single member of the House Republican Conference — including swing district members in New York and California,” voted for McCarthy’s bill.
“With their vote to hold the economy hostage, House Republicans’ didn’t stop to think before becoming defenders of the worst criminal epidemics facing our nation. They signaled to the whole country that they are willing to give fentanyl-pushing drug cartels a pass, hamstring the Border Patrol, and emaciate the budgets of local and federal law enforcement officers on the frontlines of fighting violent crime. As long as the richest Americans and the biggest corporations see a deficit-increasing windfall,” Bates writes. “They just told every family who’s lost a loved one to fentanyl that tax breaks and profits for Big Pharma are worth letting more deadly drugs into our country. They just told every family who’s lost a loved one to gun violence that billionaires matter more than the safety of our streets. And they just told the Border Patrol that billionaires are more important than our national security.”
In particular, the White House is claiming that the Republican plan will cut or wholly eliminate funding for the Drug Enforcement Agency, border patrol, Justice Department, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
White House officials say those cuts will furlough DEA agents for 78 days and force the federal government to shed 2,000 border agents, 11,000 FBI agents and personnel, 500 ATF personnel, 15,360 Bureau of Prisons positions, and 7,419 Correction Officers.
The White House also claims that the bill will nearly eliminate the discretionary funding levels Biden had requested for the COPS program, which would reduce hiring at 60% of local law enforcement agencies over the next five years.
Republicans, including a number of House Freedom Caucus members, have objected to the White House’s “laughable” attempts to equate funding cuts with the firing of federal employees, specifically border agents, and slashing veterans health benefits.
House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry claimed to have spoken to border agents who say they don’t need additional funding to secure the border, but rather a wholesale shift in federal immigration policy.
“They’re willing and able to do the job,” Perry stated. “They need a president and a Secretary of Homeland Security who will enforce current law.”
“Biden is LYING about ’s @HouseGOP responsible debt ceiling plan,” Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) tweeted in response to the White House’s claims about veterans. “Why? Because he doesn’t want Americans to know the truth that HIS rampant spending is fueling the inflation and policies that are ACTUALLY hurting our veterans.”
In recent days, the White House has pressed Republicans on how they structured spending reductions in McCarthy’s bill, claiming that by not explicitly including protections in the text, Republicans will cut funding for veterans health care, low-income students, and senior benefit programs.
On Monday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced that the US could default a full month earlier than expected, prompting Biden to invite McCarthy, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to a May 9 White House meeting on the subject.
However, top Biden administration officials, including White house press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, remain adamant that Biden is not willing to negotiate a debt hike in exchange for spending cuts.
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Jean-Pierre explicitly outlined for the first time Wednesday that the president will only enter into good faith negotiations on the federal appropriations process after McCarthy and Republicans agree to a bipartisan debt hike with Democrats that contains no spending cuts.
“Given the limited time Congress now has, it is clear that the only practical path to avoid default is for Congress to suspend the debt limit without conditions. During his meeting with the leaders, the president will discuss initiating a separate process to address the budget and appropriations because we have long said we welcome a conversation about spending priorities,” she told reporters “The updated projection should be a wake-up call to Congress. It is time for the speaker and the MAGA Republicans to stop the brinkmanship and act to prevent default, which would have devastating consequences on our economy and the American people.”
