Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota has called on President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to negotiate with each other over the federal budget, focusing on avoiding a default by raising the debt ceiling responsibly. The United States is currently at risk of defaulting on its debts if the debt ceiling is not raised by June.
Klobuchar expressed concerns over McCarthy's current plan for raising the nation's debt limit by an additional $1.5 trillion in exchange for cuts to domestic spending programs across the board. She believes that such a proposal would hold Americans' mortgages "hostage" and could result in severe economic repercussions.
President Biden and his top advisers have maintained that they will not negotiate a debt ceiling increase and will only accept a clean proposal without any strings attached. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in January that extraordinary measures being used by her department should last until early June, providing some time for negotiations.
McCarthy criticized Biden for refusing to discuss his proposed plan, which includes returning funding for government agencies to fiscal 2022 levels, capping annual increases at 1% per year, scrapping student loan forgiveness initiatives, cutting IRS funding, rescinding unused COVID-19 funds, and adding work requirements for social safety programs.
Some centrist Democrats are slowly splitting from President Joe Biden over his refusal to negotiate on this issue. They believe sitting down with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy could be an essential step toward ending brinkmanship between both parties while protecting America's economy.
In response to these developments within their party ranks, White House officials maintain that "raising the debt ceiling is not a negotiation," noting their desire to avoid repeating battles over this matter as seen during previous administrations.
Despite Democratic opposition towards negotiating with Republicans regarding proposals like those put forth by McCarthy or others similar plans suggested within GOP circles, it remains uncertain whether the Republican leadership would have enough votes to clear the House with their current proposal.
McCarthy blasted President Biden during a recent interview for being "afraid" to negotiate on budget and debt ceiling matters. He argues that Republicans are the only ones putting forward plans to address this urgent need and prevent a potential default by June.