U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks to the media as he leaves a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on the debt ceiling at the White House in Washington, DC, May 22, 2023.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — A large group of House Republicans on Tuesday questioned the accuracy of the June 1 deadline set by the Treasury Department to avoid a potential U.S. debt default.
“We want to see more transparency on how they got to that date,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said at a news conference Tuesday.
Scalise also said he believed the latest comments from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Monday “suggest that it’s June 1 or later, which makes people think that June 1 might not be the so-called X-date.” Be open minded.”
Yellen released a new letter to congressional leaders on Monday that appeared to contradict what Scalise said, notably omitting a previous letter about how the extraordinary measures would buy the U.S. more time to avoid debt A word of breach of contract.
“We haven’t really seen much transparency yet, but it looks like they’re hedging right now and opening the door to move that date back,” Scalise said.
A spokesman for the Treasury Department declined to comment.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy did not question Yellen’s timetable, and his office reiterated in a new press release Tuesday that the deadline for talks is June 1. “President Biden now only has 9 days to come get serious And reached a responsible agreement to raise the debt limit immediately,” the release read.
On Capitol Hill, debt-ceiling negotiators are poised to focus their attention on a small set of key issues ripe for compromise, an encouraging development as the U.S. faces a potentially catastrophic national debt The serious risk of default is just nine days away.
“We’re getting closer,” McCarthy told reporters late Monday, adding that the “circle” of the problem was getting “smaller and smaller.”
Issues still under discussion Tuesday included energy licensing reform, new job requirements for some forms of federal aid and the reallocation of unspent Covid-19 emergency funds.
“Health savings” are also on the table, CNBC reported Monday, which could include reforming what the government pays health care companies under several major federal health insurance programs.
U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., center, speaks to members of the media as he arrives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., Tuesday, May 23, 2023.
Nathan Howard | Bloomberg | Getty Images
McCarthy met with President Biden on Monday afternoon, a meeting that both sides described as “productive,” but failed to produce an agreement to raise the debt ceiling that financial markets and global investors had come to expect.
House Republicans held their weekly meeting Tuesday morning, at which McCarthy reportedly said they were “very far from a deal” and urged the caucus to come together and support the deal he eventually struck.
“With less than 10 days to go until default, Joe Biden has yet to offer or accept a sensible solution to raising our debt ceiling and addressing our debt crisis,” said House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Sturt of New York. Van Nick (Elise Stefanik) said on Tuesday.
Republican negotiator Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina told reporters that spending remains the biggest hurdle to a deal.
“The fundamental issue here is spending. It’s not game skills,” McHenry said Tuesday outside Republican National Committee headquarters. “It’s about us hitting the deadline to get an agreement in line with the Speaker’s message that we’ll spend less next year than we’re spending now.”
Biden wants a debt-ceiling deal, delaying the next deadline until after the 2024 presidential election. But House Republicans, who have so far supported only one year of rate hikes, said that if Biden wants more time, then he will need to agree to further cuts.
This is a developing story. Please check for updates.