Biden, in New York, pressures GOP in debt limit fight
President Joe Biden speaks on the debt limit during an event at SUNY Westchester Community College on Wednesday in Valhalla, N.Y. Credit: AP / John Minchillo
VALHALLA — President Joe Biden on Wednesday denounced Republicans' demand for spending cuts in a fight over the federal debt limit, saying it would lead to dire economic consequences including the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs and cuts to federal programs.
Biden spoke in a campaign-style speech at SUNY Westchester Community College in Valhalla a day after meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). Republicans say the president is mischaracterizing their proposal.
Negotiators continued meeting on Capitol Hill Wednesday. The two sides must agree on a plan to raise the debt ceiling or risk running out of money to pay the government's bills as soon as June 1.
If the United States were to default on its debt, “our economy would fall into a recession and our international reputation would be damaged in the extreme,” Biden said.
He and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) say Congress must agree to raise the federal debt limit until the end of 2024 without any conditions such as spending cuts.
McCarthy and his caucus want trillions of dollars in cuts to discretionary spending over the next decade in exchange for raising the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion or until March 31, 2024.
Biden said the standoff is driven by what he called the extreme wing of the Republican Party.
He said McCarthy wants to reduce the federal budget to 2022 spending levels, before Biden's $1.2 trillion infrastructure plan was passed.
Biden said the GOP plan would require the federal government to cut its budget outside of military funding by 22%. That would put 21 million people at risk of losing Medicaid and could lead to cutting 30,000 federal law enforcement positions, among other impacts, he said.
“This isn't just a theoretical debate going on in Washington,” Biden said. “The decisions we make are going to have real impact on real people's lives.”
McCarthy has said the president’s characterization of the Republican plan is not accurate.
“The only thing we’re asking is that next year we spend the same amount of money that we spent five months ago,” McCarthy said at a news conference Tuesday following his meeting with Biden and congressional leaders. “And we let appropriators decide how we dole out that money, just like every other household.”
Biden is to meet with lawmakers again on Friday.
The president, who last month announced he would seek a second term, also touted recent economic progress in his speech.
He was headed to two campaign fundraisers in New York City following the event.
His visit comes amid the lowest approval rating of his tenure — 36%, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Sunday.
With AP
Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics. She joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.