Manchin Urges Biden to Negotiate With Republicans on Debt Limit

With Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) (C) looking on, President Joe Biden (R) hands Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) (L) the pen he used to sign into law the so-called Inflation Reduction Act at the White House on Aug. 16. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) sharply criticized President Joe Biden’s unwillingness to negotiate terms for raising the nation’s debt ceiling and urged him to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to arrive at a compromise.

“For the sake of the country, I urge President Biden to come to the table, propose a plan for real and substantive spending cuts and deficit reduction, and negotiate now,” Manchin wrote on Twitter on April 20.

The nudge came a day after McCarthy unveiled legislation to increase the nation’s debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion or until March 31, 2024, whichever comes first, combined with caps on future spending, the repeal of certain tax credits, the imposition of work requirements for some recipients of public assistance, and easing regulations on the extraction of fossil fuels.

If enacted, the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 would ease concerns about a possible default on U.S. obligations and push a more permanent resolution of the debt crisis into the election season.

Manchin admitted that he did not agree with all elements of the Republican plan but urged the president to negotiate over it.

“I applaud Speaker McCarthy for putting forward a proposal that would prevent default and rein in federal spending. While I do not agree with everything proposed, the fact of the matter is that it is the only bill actually moving through Congress that would prevent default,” Manchin wrote.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) speaks to reporters outside his office in the U.S. Capitol Building on March 07, 2023. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The 75-year-old Democrat is known as a moderate and has occasionally broken ranks with his party. He opposed Biden’s Build Back Better Act in 2021. In 2013, he joined Republicans in changing Senate rules to allow some decisions to be made by a simple majority rather than a two-thirds majority.

Biden and McCarthy met on February 1 to discuss lifting the debt ceiling, but Biden has since refused to enter talks. The president has said he will not negotiate terms for raising the limit because to do so would put the full faith and credit of the nation at risk.

Regarding spending cuts, Biden has said there’s no point in a meeting until the Republicans unveil their targeted reductions, something they had not done until April 19.

Biden released his 2024 budget proposal on March 9.

Manchin cast the debt ceiling impasse between Biden and the Republicans in grandiose terms.

“America is facing a historic economic crisis brought on by an abject failure to address our exploding national debt, chronic inflation, a looming recession, and the more immediate need to raise the debt ceiling. Our elected leaders must stop with the political games, work together and negotiate a compromise,” he wrote.

“Failing to do so may score political points with the extremes of the Democratic Party, but make no mistake, it will be the American people — and our nation — who will pay the ultimate price if partisan politics continues to define our politics and policies.”

McCarthy has chided Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for inaction on the debt ceiling.

“I can’t worry about the Senate. I worry about the Senate Leader, Schumer, what he can do or accomplish, but he hasn’t shown that he’s done much. I just wish he would sit down [to negotiate],” McCarthy said in an April 20 press conference.