The Biden administration seems more interested in letting a debt default occur than coming to an agreement with Republicans to extend the limit, Speaker Kevin McCarthy has claimed.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has expressed frustration regarding recent bipartisan efforts to once again raise the U.S. debt ceiling, arguing that the Joe Biden administration appears to be more interested in just letting a debt default happen rather than agreeing some spending cuts to come to a deal with House Republicans.
A failure to raise the debt limit — a legal limit on how much money the United States can borrow — would eventually lead to a government shutdown, in turn likely leading to delays in paychecks for those working in government agencies, as well as a delay in payments to social services recipients and Medicare providers.
Despite that, the two sides have struggled to come to a deal that will solve the crisis, with both Democrats and Republicans jointly calling off a meeting between senior figures set to take place this Friday due to a lack of agreement on how to move forward.
According to a report by Fox News, McCarthy is placing the blame for the delay on the Biden government, claiming that the President has so far proven unwilling to implement spending cuts Republicans view as a necessary prerequisite for any raising of the debt limit.
“I have not seen from there a seriousness of the White House that they want a deal,” he claimed, adding that both sides thought it better to allow their staff to meet again instead in the hope of making some more headway before real negotiations begin.
“It seems like they want a default more than they want a deal,” he added.
Further meetings are now set to take place sometime next week.