White House and congressional staffers continue to discuss a potential deal to raise the debt ceiling, and the parameters of a possible deal are reportedly beginning to emerge, raising glimmers of hope that D.C. leaders may be able to avoid a calamitous default.
“Lawmakers have eyed a deal that would both raise the debt limit and enact new limits on federal spending, and could include measures such as permitting reform to spur energy production and rescinding unused covid aid money,” The Washington Post reported.
The two sides are reportedly also negotiating over how long any debt ceiling extension should last. Democrats are seeking to delay another fight for two years, according to reports, and Republicans are pressing for larger spending restrictions in exchange.
Yet with less than three weeks to go before a possible June 1 deadline — and even fewer legislative days on the House and Senate calendars — the talks reportedly remain very far from any agreement, and critics on both sides are already raising concerns. For example, GOP Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota, an ally of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, told reporters that most Republicans likely wouldn’t back spending caps that lasted only two years, as Democrats reportedly want. Republicans have been seeking caps for the next decade, which liberals are sure to reject.
Potentially complicating matters further, some key Republicans are indicating that they want to add border legislation to their list of demands for a debt deal, according to Politico. “The House has now added more to the mix,” Rep. Garret Graves, a Louisiana Republican who is also a close ally of McCarthy’s, told Politico on Friday.
And Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, similarly signaled that immigration measures were now key items on the GOP wish list. “I think this is now a central part of any debt ceiling or spending debate for the remainder of the year,” he told Politico. “Every day that the president continues to dilly dally, in my mind, the price goes up, not down. … You want a debt ceiling increase? You want to go fund the operations of government? Then fix the damn border, Mr. President.”
House Republicans on Thursday passed an immigration bill that included new restrictions on asylum seekers and renewed construction of a border wall — legislation that has no chance of advancing in the Democratically controlled Senate.
As staff-level negotiations continue, so does the verbal jousting. In a letter to colleagues Friday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer warned of the economic risks of a default and pointed to a recent Washington Post-ABC poll that found that 58% of Americans believe that the debt limit and budget talks should be handled separately, as Democrats have insisted. “This is too important for brinksmanship and reckless ultimatums,” Schumer wrote. “I urge you to implore our Republicans colleagues: Take Default Off the Table.”
A day earlier, McCarthy had insisted to reporters that Biden isn’t interested in a deal. “In whatever talks we have, you can tell right then he doesn’t want a deal. He wants a default,” McCarthy said.
The bottom line: The second meeting between Biden and the “Big Four” congressional leaders is expected next week. Biden is also scheduled to leave Wednesday for a meeting of G7 leaders in Japan.
“There is still so much work ahead and members who are on the sidelines of these now tightly held negotiations are placing a lot of faith in their respective leadership to cut a deal at a scale that McCarthy and Biden have never done together before,” CNN’s Lauren Fox writes.
And if the X-Date is really in early June, a deal may have to be reached by late next week to leave the House and Senate enough time to draft and vote on the bill.
