It was not a sure result. The negotiating team came to the table with differing views on the causes of federal debt in recent years. White House negotiators condemned Republican tax cuts. Republicans have criticized Biden’s economic policies, including the 2021 debt-financed coronavirus relief bill and the bipartisan infrastructure bill later in the year.
The controversy was sometimes blasphemous. At one point, after Mr. Biden’s negotiators criticized the 2017 Republican tax cuts, Mr. McCarthy’s “very mild” aides stood up and waved the finger at the Biden campaign, using vulgar language to criticize them. He responded enthusiastically that the discussion was nonsense. said Graves.
For months, Mr. Biden has said he would not negotiate a higher borrowing limit. But many of his aides had been secretly planning talks all along — though they didn’t admit that the talks were related to the debt limit. The Biden team reasoned that fiscal issues would need to be negotiated this year anyway, both for the appropriations bill and for programs such as food stamps included in the regularly reauthorized Farm Bill.
Biden’s economic advisers, including National Economic Council Chairman Lael Brainard and Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, warn of catastrophic damage to the economy if the government fails to pay its bills on time. Was.
The president seemed victorious even before negotiations began. During his State of the Union address, he urged Republicans to agree that Social Security and Medicare would be off limits to negotiations. This is thanks to a spontaneous riff from a passage of speech he’s been working on extensively a few days ago. He proposed a budget plan that included higher taxes on the wealthy and big business to reduce debt, but refused to engage in serious talks with McCarthy until Republicans presented their own spending plans.
In late April, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would save $4.7 trillion in spending cuts, end clean energy tax cuts, and return money to coronavirus relief and the IRS. The bill included work requirements and measures to accelerate fossil fuel projects. 1 year loan limit.
Mr. Biden soon agreed to appoint a negotiating team, even though the stalemate drew criticism from business groups and others who feared the U.S. could run out of cash before raising the debt ceiling. The White House team is led by officials including Young and one of his aides, Michael Linden, along with Legislative Affairs Director Louisa Terrell and Congressional Counsel Steve Richetti. Delayed departure from the White House to help negotiate. president.
