(DCWatchdog.com) – The highest-ranking Republican in the US Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, has accused President Joe Biden of leading America towards an economic disaster amid failing talks on a debt ceiling deal.
McConnell stated during a speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday that Biden had been “MIA” concerning the borrowing limit talks.
The US government risks a default as early as next month unless Congress adopts legislation to increase the debt ceiling after the current limit of $31.4 trillion was technically reached in February.
The White House and the Democrat Senate majority have insisted on upping the ceiling without any conditions.
However, the Republican majority in the House of Representatives has adopted a draft bill for a compromise under which the borrowing limit would be raised by $1.5 trillion in exchange for $4.8 trillion in budget deficit cuts over the next decade.
In his floor speech, Senate Minority Leader McConnell (R-KY) urged the White House to negotiate with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on a deal to raise the debt ceiling through 2024 that would also cut down government spending.
“Firstly, the president said he would not negotiate unless Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans passed their own bill, so they did,” McConnell said.
“Senate Majority offers plenty of angry noises and zero plan. [So], the president has two options. Endorse the responsible bill that House Republicans have already passed and instruct Senate Republicans not to block it in this chamber or finally sit down with Speaker McCarthy and reach an agreement,” the Kentucky senator elaborated.
He added that House Speaker McCarthy (R-CA) had been waiting “for months” for Biden to come to the “grown-ups’ table.”
In his words, if Biden and McCarthy strike a debt ceiling deal including deficit reductions, it would “pass the Senate easily.”
“Any bill that doesn’t meet that description appears to have no chance, so I’m glad President Biden has begun backing down and finally invited the Speaker to begin negotiating. I accept his invitation to join the meeting myself, but I’ll continue to lend my support to the Speaker,” McConnell stated further.
In 2011, as the Senate Minority Leader, McConnell negotiated a debt ceiling deal with Joe Biden, who was Barack Obama’s vice president at the time. However, the Kentucky Republican said his current role was more modest.
“In this situation, and I’ve been through a few of these debt-ceiling dramas, there is no solution in the Senate. We have divided government. The American people gave the Republicans the House, the Democrats have the presidency. The president and the Speaker need to reach an agreement to get us past this impasse,” he said.
“That’s my message going down to the White House meeting. It will be my message in the White House meeting and I think that’s clearly the way we get to a solution,” McConnell concluded.
President Joe Biden is leading the U.S. into an economic disaster and has been "MIA" on debt ceiling legislation, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday. https://t.co/NpSNhpYm0O
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) May 3, 2023
