House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., accused President Biden of pivoting on debt ceiling negotiations, succumbing to progressives in his party as fears of a default continue to loom.
McCarthy argued Biden’s trip to Japan to attend the G-7 Summit marked a turning point in the stalled talks during “Sunday Morning Futures” as concerns mount over a potential financial crisis should the country run out of cash.
“Now, the president, even though he was overseas, thought to change places… I don’t understand that. For 97 days he ignored me. We were in a good place. He goes overseas, and now he wants to change the debate,” McCarthy told Maria Bartiromo. “That’s not healthy. We still have to pass a bill before the House and the Senate, and we only have 11 days to go.”
Biden accused “MAGA Republicans” of unraveling debt talks during his press conference from Hiroshima at the close of the summit, citing it as an effort to derail his 2024 re-election effort.
“On the merits, based on what I’ve offered, I would be blameless,” Biden said. “On the politics of it, no one would be blameless. And by the way, that’s one of the, one of the things some [people] are contemplating. Well, I gotta be careful here. I think there are some MAGA Republicans in the House who know the damage that it would do to the economy and because I am president, and presidents are responsible for everything, Biden would take the blame. And that’s the one way to make sure Biden’s not re-elected.”
But McCarthy slammed Biden for pivoting on debt talks, noting the shift came after the far-left within the Democratic Party pushed more government spending while warning of potential repercussions at the ballot box if concessions are made.
“The president has really shifted right after the more progressive socialist wing of the party stood up and says they want to spend more money,” McCarthy said. “He’s now bringing something to the table that everyone said was off the table. It seems as though he wants default more than he wants a deal. That’s not where I’m at, and the one thing you know… about me, Maria, I will never give up.”
WHAT IS THE DEBT CEILING, AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU?
“We can solve this problem and make our economy stronger,” he continued. “Curve inflation and be less dependent on China and really focus on American problems with American solutions.”
Some Democrats are urging the president to utilize the 14th Amendment in order to bypass congressional negotiations so that he does not have to make concessions with Republicans.
Section 4 of the 14th Amendment reads in part, “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.”
But some constitutional law experts, however, have expressed skepticism about the president using the amendment to raise the debt ceiling.
During his Hiroshima press conference, however, Biden acknowledged that the legal disagreement would render the move moot, saying the appeals process would kick a final decision well past the default date.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen previously said, “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.”
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom, Kristine Parks and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
