Biden Blasts McConnell Over ‘Reckless’ Debt Limit Refusal
President Joe Biden on Monday demanded that Republicans "stop
playing Russian roulette with the U.S. economy."
Speaking to the press at the White House, Biden charged
Republicans with being "hypocritical, dangerous and disgraceful"
for blocking efforts by Democrats to raise the federal debt
ceiling.
Senate Republicans have refused to allow votes on two bills that
would increase the debt limit, pushing the nation closer to a
fiscal crisis that could arrive as soon as October 18, when the
U.S. Treasury says it could run out of money to meet the country’s
financial obligations.
"A meteor is headed to crash into our economy," Biden said.
"Democrats are willing to do all the work stopping it. Republicans
just have to let us do our job. Just get out of the way. If you
don’t want to help save the country, get out of the way so you
don’t destroy it."
Biden noted that Republican policies added significantly to the
debt when former President Donald Trump was in the White House,
during which time Democrats voted on a bipartisan basis three times
to raise the debt limit. "Now they won't raise it, even though
they're responsible for the more than $8 trillion in bills incurred
in the previous administration," Biden said.
"Let me be really clear," Biden added. "Raising the debt limit
is about paying off our old debts. It has nothing to do with any
new spending being considered. It has nothing to do with my plan
for infrastructure or ‘Building Back Better.’"
McConnell unmoved: In a letter to Biden released publicly
Monday, Senate Minority Mitch McConnell (R-KY) blamed Democrats for
failing to take the necessary steps to raise the debt ceiling on
their own.
"I write in that spirit to express concern that our nation is
sleepwalking toward significant and avoidable danger because of
confusion and inaction from the Speaker of the House and the Senate
Democratic Leader concerning basic governing duties," McConnell
wrote, again making it clear he accepts no responsibility for the
burgeoning crisis.
McConnell pressed his case for Republican inaction, saying that
he was simply following a precedent set by Democrats, including
then-Sen. Biden, who refused to back increases in the debt ceiling
when Republicans were in control of the government under President
George W. Bush. "Your view then is our view now," McConnell wrote,
adding that the "debt limit is often a partisan vote during times
of unified government."
Still no clear path forward: Senate Majority Leader Chuck
Schumer (D-NY) said Monday that lawmakers must take steps to raise
the debt ceiling in the next few days. "Let me be clear about the
task ahead of us," he wrote in a letter to colleagues. "[W]e must
get a bill to the president’s desk dealing with the debt limit by
the end of the week. Period."
Schumer did not indicate how he plans to go about raising the
debt limit, saying that Democratic lawmakers would discuss the
matter at a private meeting on Tuesday.
Schumer did say that he plans to hold another vote later this
week on a House-passed bill that would suspend the debt ceiling
until December 2022, but Republicans are expected to block the
effort once again.
Risky bets: Democrats and Republicans appear to be
doubling down on their game of chicken, each gambling that the
other side will swerve first. Republicans are betting that
Democrats will pass a debt ceiling increase on their own via the
reconciliation process — the path McConnell has been pushing for
weeks. Democrats say they don’t want to take that route, and time
is running short for the complex legislative process that could
take weeks to complete.
Democrats appear to be betting that Republicans will back down
once it’s clear that there is no time to use the reconciliation
option. They need just 10 Republicans to end the filibuster on a
debt ceiling bill, which could then pass with just 50 Democratic
votes. Alternatively, Democrats could break the filibuster rule and
skip directly to a vote.
Whichever way it goes, it’s clear that the chances of an
unplanned debt crisis are rising. Asked if he could guarantee the
debt ceiling would be addressed in time, Biden said, "No I can't.
That's up to Mitch McConnell."
Democrats Look for Nearly $2 Trillion in Cuts to Biden
Plan
Democrats may have failed to come together last week to pass the
$1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, but the drama
surrounding the postponed vote accomplished two things.
First, it made clear that the infrastructure legislation and a
multitrillion-dollar package to expand the social safety net and
combat climate change are linked, despite the wishes of some
centrists in the party.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive
Caucus, told CNN on Sunday that her members, by blocking a vote on
the bipartisan infrastructure bill, have helped push President
Biden’s core agenda back on to the table, reestablishing the
linkage between both pieces of legislation. "We’ve put the bills
back together, as was the original agreement, and we are going to
deliver both bills — the infrastructure bill, which is important,
and the Build Back Better Act," she said.
Second, it made plain that the $3.5 trillion topline sought by
progressive for that larger package will wind up being reduced
significantly.
The new deadline for both bills is October 31. President Biden
on Saturday signed into law a 30-day stopgap extension for
transportation programs that had seen their funding lapse when the
fiscal year ended on Thursday. The short-term authorization, passed
by the House on Friday and the Senate on Saturday, allows 3,700
Department of Transportation employees to return to work after
being briefly furloughed. And it sets up a Halloween deadline for
the bipartisan infrastructure bill and Biden’s Build Back Better
Act focused on social programs.
"It is crucial that the House, Senate and President come to a
final agreement on the details of the Build Back Better Act as soon
as possible, preferably within a matter of days, not weeks," Senate
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote in a Monday
letter to Senate Democrats. He added: "Not every
member will get everything he or she wanted. But at the end of the
day, we will pass legislation that will dramatically improve the
lives of the American people. I believe we are going to do just
that in the month of October."
To do it, Democrats will have to quell some anger, overcome some
major differences — and make nearly $2 trillion in cuts to the
budget bill.
The anger was evident in statements by centrists. Sen. Kyrsten
Sinema (D-AZ) called the delayed House vote on the bipartisan
infrastructure package she helped negotiate "inexcusable, and
deeply disappointing for communities around our country." She also
warned that the move further erodes the trust necessary in
negotiations. And Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) fumed that
a "small faction on the far left" was employing what he called
"Freedom Caucus tactics" to put Biden’s agenda at risk. "We were
elected to achieve reasonable, commonsense solutions for the
American people — not to obstruct from the far wings," he said.
As for the size and substance of the budget package, the White
House has set a topline target range of $1.9 trillion to $2.3
trillion, slightly above the $1.5 trillion demanded by Sen. Joe
Manchin (D-WV), a key vote in the Senate. Getting there will
require some difficult choices, as
Politico notes: "They can toss overboard entire
policies. They can make some programs less expensive through
means-testing (Manchin’s preference). They can create programs with
shorter lifespans and hope that they get renewed. They can engage
in myriad types of budgetary gimmickry."
We’ll venture a not-so-bold prediction: some budgetary gimmickry
will be involved.
Jayapal on Sunday insisted that Manchin’s $1.5 trillion ceiling
is too low. "That’s not going to happen," she told CNN CNN. "That’s
too small to get our priorities in. It's going to be somewhere
between 1.5 and 3.5, and I think the White House is working on that
right now because, remember, what we want to deliver is child care,
paid leave and climate change, housing."
Jayapal said that the focus of Democrats’ debate should be on
the substance of the legislation rather than the price tag. "What
we've said from the beginning is that it's never been about the
price tag. It's about what we want to deliver," she said. "The
critical thing is let's get our priorities in and then we will
figure out what it actually costs."
She added that Biden had also asked Democrats to start with the
policies they support rather than thinking about the topline
number. And she suggested that negotiators could trim the price tag
of $3.5 trillion over 10 years by cutting some smaller items from
the legislation and then funding some larger priorities for a
shorter period of time.
Jayapal also pushed back on a number of Manchin’s specific
demands. She flatly rejected his insistence that reconciliation
package must include what’s known as the Hyde Amendment, which
restricts Medicaid payments for abortion. And she questioned his
call for means testing to limit benefit programs to lower-income
earners. "I have been consistent in my belief that any expansion of
social programs must be targeted to those in need, not expanded
beyond what is fiscally possible," Manchin said. But Jayapal argued
that means testing will be counterproductive. "All of the research
shows means-testing actually doesn’t target it more but it does
create a lot of administrative burden and a lot more cost," she
told CNN.
The bottom line: "Massive legislation is rarely passed in
Washington without near disasters," CNN’s Stephen Collinson
writes. "The prospect of failure is often the only
thing that prods warring factions toward compromise." One failure
may not be disastrous, but Democrats probably can’t afford
another.
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News
Schumer Forces Debt Limit Vote to Squeeze Republican
Resistance – Politico
McConnell Reactivates His Connection to Biden — With a Sharp
Debt Warning – Politico
Manchin Open to Debt Hike Through Reconciliation, Rules Out
Nixing Filibuster – The Hill
Congress Likely Can't Afford to Wait Until October 18 to
Raise the Debt Ceiling. Here's Why. – CNN
Biden Throws In With Left, Leaving His Agenda in
Doubt – New York Times
Progressives Rallied Behind Biden's Agenda. Now He’s Gotta
Sell Them on a Compromise. – Politico
Biden to Meet House Progressives on Path to Reconciliation
Package – The Hill
Infrastructure Delay Shows Clout of Progressive Leader
Pramila Jayapal – Wall Street Journal
The Real Cost of U.S. Debt Is Nearer the Floor Than the
Ceiling – Bloomberg
Foreign Money Secretly Floods U.S. Tax Havens. Some of It Is
Tainted – Washington Post
Defense Contractor Accused of Bilking Navy Out of $50
Million – The Hill
McKinsey Never Told the FDA It Was Working for Opioid Makers
While Also Working for the Agency – ProPublica
Almost 1 in 5 Health Care Workers Quit Their Jobs During
COVID-19: Poll – The Hill
Views and Analysis
Democrats Have a Numbers Problem – John Harwood,
CNN
Democrats Aren’t Spending Too Much Money. But Are They
Spending It Well? – Matt Bai, Washington Post
Bitterness Festers as Democrats Try Again to Pass Biden's
Economic Agenda – Stephen Collinson, CNN
Why Progressives Didn't Cave in Biggest Intra-Party Fight of
the Biden Era – Gregory Krieg, CNN
Why Kyrsten Sinema's Tactics May Backfire – Harry
Enten, CNN
Biden’s Challenge to Mitch McConnell: Go Ahead, Burn the
Place Down – Greg Sargent, Washington Post
Republicans Won’t Help on the Debt Limit—Their Voters Won’t
Let Them – Alan Cole, Full Stack Economics
Raising the Debt Ceiling Is Now a Slightly Less Nightmarish
Task – Ed Kilgore, New York
Debt Ceiling Compromise Should Be Made for Taxpayers, Not
Against Them – Andrew Lautz, The Hill
Biden’s Plan to Tax Rich People Like Me is the Best Way to
Grow the Economy – Nick Hanauer, New Republic
Covid, in Retreat – David Leonhardt, New York
Times
Corporate Democrats Are Killing Biden’s Agenda –
Jason Linkins, New Republic
On Very Serious People, Climate and Children –
Paul Krugman, New York Times
What’s a Little Disagreement Among Factions? –
Gail Collins and Bret Stephens, New York Times