Biden and McCarthy Meet to Discuss Debt Limit as Both Sides Trade Barbs - The New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Biden is gathering connected Wednesday with Speaker Kevin McCarthy astatine the White House for a treatment that carries precocious stakes: the request to rise the nation’s borrowing bounds to debar a fiscal crisis.

The gathering is the archetypal betwixt the 2 leaders since Republicans assumed power of the House and gave Mr. McCarthy the talker rubric after a protracted fight. It began soon aft 3 p.m., White House officials said.

Republicans person refused to rise the statutory indebtedness bounds unless Mr. Biden accepts heavy cuts successful national spending. The president has said repeatedly that helium expects Congress to rise the borrowing headdress with nary strings attached — and that helium volition not negociate conditions for an increase.

The day gathering is taking spot down closed doors, but the hours starring up to it highlighted the differences betwixt the White House and the Republicans who present power the House. Mr. McCarthy emerged connected Wednesday greeting from a backstage gathering with his conference, telling reporters, “I’m not present to play governmental games.”

“We’ve got 5 months to woody with the indebtedness ceiling successful an big mode and a precise liable mode — to beryllium down sensibly and enactment unneurotic to travel to an agreement,” Mr. McCarthy said. “I don’t judge anybody successful America believes that you can’t find immoderate places to find savings successful what we’re spending.”

Mr. Biden and Mr. McCarthy had blamed each different connected Tuesday for the impasse successful raising the indebtedness ceiling. The president called the talker a “decent man” who had caved to extremists successful his enactment to instrumentality power.

He made “commitments that are conscionable perfectly disconnected the partition for a talker of the House to make,” Mr. Biden told reporters on Tuesday.

Understand the U.S. Debt Ceiling

On Wednesday, the president of the Federal Reserve, Jerome H. Powell, warned successful a quality league that the nation’s cardinal slope could not forestall economical catastrophe if lawmakers bash not hold to rise the limit.

“There is lone 1 mode guardant here, and that is for Congress to rise the indebtedness ceiling, truthful that the United States authorities tin wage each of its obligations,” Mr. Powell said.

“Any deviations from that way would beryllium highly risky” for the economy, helium added.

The Treasury Department is employing a scope of “extraordinary measures” to guarantee that the United States tin proceed paying its bills, including involvement payments to creditors. But astatine immoderate point, the state volition request to get much wealth to concern its obligations. The federation runs a fund deficit, which means it spends much than it earns, and it borrows immense sums of wealth to wage everything from subject salaries to Social Security benefits.

Economists person wide warned of economical catastrophe if lawmakers bash not rise the bounds earlier the authorities loses the quality to wage each its bills astatine once, which could hap arsenic soon arsenic June. If the United States cannot get much money, it would not beryllium capable to marque bully connected a scope of fiscal obligations, including paying bondholders, plunging the federation into default.

Republicans are seeking to usage the menace of those consequences to unit Mr. Biden into a statement implicit taxes, spending, indebtedness and the size of the national government.

Both sides person sought to framework the treatment successful favorable terms. Republicans person assailed Democrats for runaway spending, pointing to the stimulus bundle that Mr. Biden signed into law. They blasted that spending for fueling accelerated ostentation past year, though terms increases person since eased. Republican lawmakers accidental existent national indebtedness levels are unsustainable and hazard undercutting economical growth.

Mr. Biden has said often that helium is consenting to trim deficits by raising taxes connected precocious earners and corporations — moves Republicans oppose. The president and his aides person tried to propulsion Republicans into detailing circumstantial parts of the national fund they privation to cut, betting connected a elector backlash to immoderate proposals that interaction fashionable programs similar authorities wellness care, acquisition and status spending.

“Any superior speech astir economical and fiscal argumentation needs to commencement with a wide knowing of the participants’ goals and proposals,” Brian Deese, the manager of the National Economic Council, and Shalanda Young, the manager of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote successful a memo connected Tuesday.

But some centrist Republicans and Democrats indicated connected Wednesday that they would springiness Mr. Biden’s strategy nary governmental cover, insisting that the president beryllium down and negociate with Mr. McCarthy successful bully faith.

Six Democrats, led by Representative Jared Golden of Maine, connected Wednesday sent some Mr. Biden and Mr. McCarthy a missive urging some men to prosecute successful “good religion negotiations that debar the partisan standoffs of the past.”

And Representative Mike Lawler, Republican of New York, warned successful an interrogation that attempts by Mr. Biden to shun Mr. McCarthy successful favour of brokering a compromise with the party’s centrists would beryllium futile.

“The White House needs to admit the information that determination is nary longer 1 enactment rule,” Mr. Lawler, 1 of 18 Republicans who correspond districts won by Mr. Biden, said. “They request to negociate successful bully faith, and they can’t circumvent the talker by conscionable going to myself and my colleagues successful these Biden districts.”

Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska, who attended the gathering with Mr. McCarthy connected Wednesday, said the talker did not laic retired circumstantial areas wherever Republicans mightiness question to chopped spending but reiterated that helium wanted to negociate “in bully faith” with Mr. Biden.

“We cognize that we’ve got to get a deal,” said Mr. Bacon, 1 of the astir outspoken centrists successful the conference, describing the tenor of the meeting. “Negotiate the champion woody we can, and past we’re going to request to enactment it.”

Those kinds of informational briefings and discussions — called “listening sessions” by Mr. McCarthy — were a cardinal portion of his strategy successful 2011, erstwhile helium needed to transportation unyielding blimpish lawmakers swept into powerfulness by the Tea Party question to ballot to rise the indebtedness ceiling.

In his Capitol office, Mr. McCarthy, past the bulk whip, mildly nudged holdouts into naming concessions from the Obama medication that would beryllium important capable to pave the mode for them to ballot for a indebtedness bounds deal.

The Republicans’ gathering connected Wednesday besides serves arsenic an effort by Mr. McCarthy to propulsion his restive league successful person earlier the White House negotiations. The determination whitethorn insulate Mr. McCarthy from the distrust that plagued Speaker John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, during the 2011 indebtedness ceiling crisis.

When Mr. Boehner negotiated with President Barack Obama, the discussions stoked concerns among hard-right lawmakers skeptical of the establishment-styled talker that the 2 men would privately shingle hands connected a woody that betrayed blimpish values. Mr. McCarthy is trying the other approach.

Karoun Demirjian contributed reporting.