Time for daily talks between Biden, Republicans on debt, moderate
Democrat says
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[April 29, 2023]
By David Morgan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A prominent moderate U.S. House of
Representatives Democrat said Friday that it is time for President Joe
Biden to begin daily talks with Republicans on government spending and
debt, to avoid a calamitous default.
Representative Josh Gottheimer rejected Republican demands to raise the
$31.4 trillion debt ceiling only in exchange for deep spending cuts. But
he joined a growing number of moderates in Biden's party who say
spending, deficits and the government borrowing limit should be part of
a larger conversation about the nation's fiscal health.
"It's critically important that all the parties sit down at the White
House with the president and start having these conversations. And they
should meet every single day until they get there, together," said
Gottheimer, who co-chairs the Problem Solvers Caucus of moderate
Democrats and Republicans.
Similar calls have come from Senators Joe Manchin and Amy Klobuchar, and
from House Democrats including Debbie Dingell, Jared Moskowitz and Greg
Landsman.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Apr/29/images/ads/current/castlemanor_sda_FINANCIAL_2017.png)
The White House says that it will not negotiate on raising the debt
ceiling, a move necessary to cover the costs of spending and tax cuts
previously approved by Congress.
Since a Feb. 1 Oval Office sit-down, Biden and Republican House Speaker
Kevin McCarthy have not met to discuss the issue, as the days count down
to the time when the U.S. government will no longer be able to meet its
financial obligations.
"Happy to meet with McCarthy. But not on whether or not the debt limit
gets extended. That's not negotiable," Biden said on Wednesday, the day
House Republicans narrowly passed their own legislation this week to
lift the debt ceiling in exchange for sharp spending cuts.
That bill has no chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate and
even if it did, Biden has said he would veto it.
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![](../images/042923PIX/news_k71.jpg)
U.S. Representative Josh Gottheimer
(D-NJ) talks to reporters outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington,
U.S., November 4, 2021. REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Apr/29/images/ads/current/longview_lda_SFARM_2023.png)
Gottheimer said it doesn't matter whether the debt ceiling is
considered together with spending and deficits or looked at
separately. "What matters is that you actually sit down and have the
conversations, and do it now," he told reporters. "What's
unacceptable is going off a fiscal cliff."
The U.S. Treasury Department has warned that it could run out of the
means to pay all its bills as early as June, at which point the
federal government would default unless the debt ceiling was raised.
Default would cripple the U.S. economy. But even a prolonged
debt-ceiling standoff could prove costly, as it did in 2011 when
U.S. government saw its credit rating downgraded, pushing borrowing
costs higher and hammering stocks.
Uncertainty is already taking its toll on financial markets, as
investors await additional guidance on the default "X-date" from the
Treasury.
With the House out until May 9, Congress would have only weeks to
act on the debt ceiling if new guidance confirms an early June
X-date.
A vote to avoid default by lifting the debt ceiling for just a few
weeks could prove difficult in the narrowly divided House, where
hardline conservatives have the power to block legislation and say
they would demand spending cuts even then.
"A shorter-term extension still comes with a price tag," said
Representative Chip Roy, a leading hardliner. "We're going to demand
change."
(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Scott Malone and Nick
Zieminski)
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