House Speaker Takes Aggressive Stance on Debt Ceiling Negotiations

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) held court in a press conference on May 24, immediately after the latest round of debt ceiling negotiations with the White House.

Time is running out on Congress and President Biden to reach an agreement that would enable the federal government to pay its bills.

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Earlier today, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told attendees at a Wall Street Journal Forum the time to cut a deal is now, as the government is expected to run out of money in early June – even as early as June 1.

"There will be some obligations we will be unable to pay," Yellen said. "We simply have to raise the debt ceiling.”

McCarthy noted that both sides of the negotiating table finally acknowledged the severity of the debt ceiling crisis but were gaining limited ground.

“I thought the meeting was productive . . . but not (with) much progress,” he told the media. “We will work through the night to see where our differences lie.”

The House Speaker also lamented the late negotiating date, charging President Biden with resisting Congressional efforts to meet to discuss the debt ceiling issue.

"This is not how government should work,” McCarthy said. “I requested a meeting with the President three months ago...now 97 days have gone by.”

Asked if Congress would be willing to put a clean debt ceiling bill on the floor on a “yes or no” vote, McCarthy dismissed the idea.

“No, we’re never going to put a clean debt ceiling bill on the floor,” he responded. “It’s like having a child and giving that child a credit card. Every single time the child hits the spending limit you just raise the limit.”

“Right now, Americans owe more than our entire economy is worth,” he added. “When are we going to change direction?”

McCarthy also noted that raising taxes is off the table, adding the bulk of the negotiations were spent on acknowledging both parties’ disagreements.

“To me, that’s productive,” he added.