McCarthy frustrated with Biden’s refusal to reduce spending in debt ceiling talks.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is venting his frustration over President Joe Biden’s unwillingness to reduce federal discretionary spending in 2024 in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling.

“It didn’t seem like it’d be this hard,” McCarthy told reporters on May 24.

The Speaker then listed a litany of complaints against Biden and the Democrat party.

• Overspending
• Driving the country into debt
• Causing inflation
• Increasing dependence on China
• Causing four bank failures

All while the president refused to negotiate on raising the debt ceiling for more than three months.

Though he expressed hope that an agreement could still be reached in time to prevent a default on U.S. obligations, McCarthy often struck a defensive tone.

“I’m not a senator. I don’t control the Senate. Why didn’t they pass something? The president didn’t talk to us for 97 days. So don’t blame me for reaching out to the Democrats, for begging the president to meet with me, and trying to find [a solution],” McCarthy said.

The Limit, Save, Grow Act—a Republican plan to increase the debt ceiling while reduce spending in debt ceiling talks.”>reducing federal spending—passed the House on April 26 by one vote.

The measure would:

• Reduce federal spending in 2024
• Cap spending growth for 10 years
• Increase work requirements for some recipients of social services
• Take back unspent COVID-19 funds
• Loosen permitting requirements for oil and gas

The Treasury could lack the funds to meet all financial obligations in full as soon as June 1 without additional borrowing, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

“It’s not my fault that the Democrats today have become so extreme, so far toward the socialist wing that they are now opposed to work requirements, that they are now opposed to saving $1 less than you spent the year before. That, to me, really seems that the problem [is] the Democrats,” McCarthy said.

Republicans began by demanding that federal discretionary spending for 2024 be reduced to the 2023 level. That has emerged as a central sticking point in negotiations. However, McCarthy has lately used the phrase “spend less than we spent last year,” perhaps signaling a willingness to accept a smaller spending cut.

“When have I ever said, ‘You have to agree to 100 percent of what I want?'” McCarthy asked, indicating his willingness to make some concessions to Democrats. However, he reiterated his one non-negotiable: no increase in the debt limit without some agreement to reduce spending in 2024.

Will Republicans Be Blamed for a Default?

Asked whether the public would blame Republicans if a default resulted from the fight over the debt ceiling, McCarthy said, “I think the public will blame the president and the Democrats for not being responsible.”