Debt Ceiling Negotiations Stall as House GOP Blames White House’s Lack of Concessions

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks to the press after meeting with President Joe Biden and other leaders at the White House in Washington on May 16, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Top Republicans negotating a debt ceiling solution with the White House discontinued talks, signifying at least a temporary breakdown in the reconciliation process.

After a meeting with White House officials in the Capitol, Republicans said they were leaving because the two sides were still too far apart to continue the in-person debate.

Republican lawmakers asserted that the White House needed to make concessions before any more progress could be made.

“We’ve got to get movement by the White House, and we don’t have any movement yet. So, yeah, we’ve gotta pause,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (D-Calif.) said after leaving the negotiations.

“Yesterday, I really felt we were at the location where I could see the path. The White House is just—look, we can’t be spending more money next year. We have to spend less than we spent the year before. It’s pretty easy.”

Negotiators met for a third day at the Capitol with the aim of reaching an agreement this weekend in anticipation of potential House votes the following week. On June 1, according to the Treasury Department, the government will be unable to pay its debts because it will have ran out of currency.

Even the prospect of a debt default, according to experts, would send shockwaves through the economy.

Negotiators have included Steve Ricchetti, counselor to President Joe Biden, and Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, Rep. Garret Graves (R-La.), and unnamed members of McCarthy’s staff.

The group has met daily since May 16 regarding the spending caps, as well as the amount and duration of an increase or suspension to the debt ceiling.

Prior to his departure for the G7 Summit in Japan on May 17, the president expressed optimism that an agreement was imminent.

“We’re going to continue these discussions with congressional leaders in the coming days until we reach an agreement,” Biden said, referring to talks on the debt ceiling and spending proposals that began on May 9.

The president and the Speaker had been in an impasse for months over raising the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling. Biden had refused to negotiate an increase in the limit, claiming that doing so would jeopardize the United States’ full faith and credit.

The Speaker insisted that Congress would not sign off on a limit increase without a future expenditure reduction.

Former President Donald Trump weighed in via a post on Truth Social saying, “Republicans should not make a deal on the debt ceiling unless they get everything they want (including the “kitchen sink”). That’s the way the democrats have always dealt with us. do not fold!”

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a contributor to the publication, told The Epoch Times on May 19 “It gave [Republicans] the ability to say that they had the one bill that would avoid a default. And then when 43 Senate Republicans, including [Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell, signed a letter saying they would not vote for cloture for a debt ceiling that was not approved by McCarthy, that really shifted the whole balance of power.

“I think the Biden administration thought the Republicans would fail in the House,” Gingrich went on. “They thought that the ‘Don’t let us default’ argument would work, and they wouldn’t have to do anything.”

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen recently sent a letter (pdf) to Congress asserting the United States could default by June 1 if the debt limit is not raised.

“After reviewing recent federal tax receipts, our best estimate is that we will be unable to continue to satisfy all of the government’s obligations by early June, and potentially as early as June 1, if Congress does not raise or suspend the debt limit before that time,” Yellen wrote.

The White House did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’s request for comment.

Lawrence Wilson contributed to this report.