'Nothing has changed': Kevin McCarthy refuses to budge on debt ceiling after White House meeting

09 May 2023

Moments after concluding his Tuesday debt ceiling White House meeting with President Joe Biden, House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) told reporters that "nothing has changed" and that the country is still careening toward its first-ever default.

"Nothing has changed since then. The only thing that has changed is the House has raised the dead ceiling and passed the bill. That's why we had a meeting today," McCarthy said.

"Everybody in this meeting reiterated the positions they were at. I didn't see any new movement. The president said the staff should get back together, but I was very clear with the president," McCarthy continued. "We have now just two weeks to go."

The speaker then attempted to pass the buck, despite a chorus of calls to unconditionally lift the Treasury Department's borrowing limit. Like McCarthy, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) is refusing to pass a clean deal without dramatic cuts to spending on social programs.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) "could pass something, we'd go to conference right away and solve that, but I don't think Chuck Schumer could pass anything. They haven't dealt with it. Unfortunately, the president has waited ninety-seven days without ever meeting. Every day I ask, 'Could we meet?' And he said, 'No,'" McCarthy asserted.

"The House has raised the debt ceiling in a responsible manner, curve our spending at the same time, bring us economic growth," McCarthy added. "I asked the president of this simple question, 'Does he not believe there's any place we could find savings?'"

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