Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) called on President Joe Biden to not negotiate with Republicans as he compared them to “economic terrorists” amid debt ceiling negotiations on Thursday.
Bowman’s comments come as a number of Democrats expressed their frustrations with the party’s handling of the debt ceiling as House Republicans and White House negotiators continue talks to avoid an unprecedented government default.
Bowman told CNN’s Manu Raju that he was “very frustrated” over the debt ceiling talks before criticizing the president’s approach to Republican demands.
“I called on the president to invoke the 14th amendment and mint a coin and do not negotiate with hostage takers,” said Bowman, referring – in part – to a plan to prevent a default by minting a $1 trillion coin for the Treasury to pay off debts.
“I mean, we don’t negotiate with terrorists globally – why are we gonna’ negotiate with the economic terrorists here that are the Republican Party?”
There reportedly were signs that the two sides were making progress on the debt ceiling ahead of June 1, the earliest date that the government won’t be able to pay its bills without a raise to the debt limit, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
Republicans have demanded spending cuts – along with changes to Social Security and Medicare programs – ahead of a deal with the White House.
The White House has offered to “roll back” $10 billion of its $80 billion boost in Internal Revenue Service funding to “essentially shift [the money] to nondefense discretionary spending… to avoid further cuts in programs like education and environmental protection,” according to the New York Times.
Bowman has likened Republicans to “economic terrorists” in recent weeks over their demands, calling on the president to use executive action to avoid a default last week.
“Republicans raised the debt ceiling under Trump, but now they’re threatening to blow up the economy unless we agree to their cruel plan to punish vulnerable families,” Bowman wrote in a tweet last week.
“This is economic terrorism, and we can’t give in.”