Klobuchar says Biden and McCarthy should negotiate over budget, not debt limit

by Editor3
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Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota said Sunday that she believes President Joe Biden should sit down with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and negotiate Republicansโ€™ proposed spending cuts, but she insisted those talks should be in relation to the federal budget โ€“ not raising the debt limit.

โ€œOf course, President Biden should sit down with Speaker McCarthy,โ€ Klobuchar told CNNโ€™s Dana Bash on โ€œState of the Unionโ€ ahead of the Houseโ€™s expected vote this week on McCarthyโ€™s bill to raise the debt limit. โ€œBut let me put an idea out there. The proposal that McCarthy has put forward, that belongs in the budget. โ€ฆ Our main goal right now is to make clear that we are going to avoid default.โ€

โ€œThey should start those negotiations now,โ€ the senator added.

McCarthy introduced a proposal last week to raise the nationโ€™s $31.4 trillion debt limit by an additional $1.5 trillion in exchange for cuts to domestic spending programs across the board.

But Biden and his top advisers have said they will not negotiate a debt ceiling increase and will only accept a clean proposal to raise the nationโ€™s borrowing limit.

The US hit its debt ceiling in January and canโ€™t continue to borrow to meet its obligations unless Congress raises or suspends it. The Treasury Department is avoiding default โ€“ which would happen this summer or early fall โ€“ by using a combination of cash on hand and โ€œextraordinary measures,โ€ which should last at least until early June, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in January.

A breach of the US debt ceiling risks sparking a 2008-style economic catastrophe that could wipe out millions of jobs and set America back for generations, Moodyโ€™s Analytics has warned.

McCarthy said Sunday he believes he will secure the necessary votes to pass his debt limit bill, telling Fox News, โ€œWe will hold a vote this week, we will pass it and send it to the Senate.

โ€The California Republican also repeatedly criticized Biden over his refusal to negotiate a debt limit plan. The White House has attacked the GOP debt limit proposal as a nonstarter and something that would take the country to a โ€œtotally irresponsibleโ€ debt default. (CNN)

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