Even on the 23rd (local time), the expected date of the U.S. federal government default (default) approaching on the 9th, the White House and the Republican Party failed to reach an agreement in the negotiations to raise the debt ceiling.
According to the Associated Press, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Republican Party) said in Congress that day, “We haven’t reached an agreement yet,” and said that he would not pass any bill “unless we cut spending from this year.”
He said, “I believe that we will be able to reach an agreement before the 1st of next month,” but told reporters that the possibility of an agreement being reached that day is low. He added that they are now looking at ways to cut spending to make it acceptable to both sides.
The White House and the Republican working-level negotiating team met after the meeting between President Joe Biden and House Speaker McCarthy the night before and continued negotiations, and it is said that they talked for several hours this morning.
It seems that related negotiations continued in the afternoon, but news of an agreement has not yet been heard.
Amid criticism from some Republicans that the White House’s response was not urgent, White House press secretary Currin Janfair dismissed it as “ridiculous” at a press conference that day.
A spokesman for Janpier Air emphasized that “President Biden wants to reach an agreement as soon as possible.”
The government and the Republican Party are engaged in a tense tug-of-war over how to set the ceiling for next year’s budget bill.
While Republicans insist that next year’s budget should be less than this year’s, they are opposing the White House, saying it should be this year’s level.
In addition, Republicans were trying to impose a spending increase cap of 1% over the next 10 years, and are currently requesting a level adjusted to 6 years. On the other hand, the White House is in a position to keep next year’s budget at this year’s level and apply the 1% limit until 2025.
Representative Garrett Graves, who is participating in the Republican negotiating team, said on the day, “We are firmly following the benchmark of House Speaker McCarthy. He said he would not agree unless he spent less money than he did this year (next year), and that there was still a “significant difference”.
Meanwhile, according to the results of a survey of 1,286 adults conducted between the 15th and 18th by local media NPR and PBS and pollster Marist, 52% of respondents said that Congress should raise the debt ceiling regardless of spending cuts. On the other hand, 42% of respondents said that significant spending cuts should be made at the same time.
The U.S. government is expected to fall into a default situation in which debt repayment and spending will be impossible as early as the 1st.
Even if a bill to raise the debt ceiling is proposed in the House of Representatives with an agreement between the two sides, it is observed that the negotiations should be completed by this week at the latest, considering that it will take 72 hours to review before voting.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.