White House Confirms “No Negotiation” on Debt Ceiling Ahead of Meeting with Opposition Leaders

“It is customary to raise the debt ceiling without conditions… No negotiations”
Reconfirmation ahead of Biden and opposition leadership meeting on the 9th
Republicans’ demand for ‘government spending adjustment’ to be discussed separately

Amidst observations that the US government could fall into default (default), the Associated Press reported on the 2nd (local time) that the White House reconfirmed its position of ‘no negotiation’ ahead of discussions between President Joe Biden and the opposition leadership. .

White House spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre said at a briefing that day, “The president will not negotiate on the debt ceiling issue,” referring to a meeting between President Biden and the opposition leaders scheduled for the 9th. He said, “The debt ceiling was increased three times without conditions under the Republican Donald Trump administration.” He emphasized that debt ceilings are not subject to negotiation, as Republicans are demanding.

President Biden and the ruling Democratic Party are insisting on raising the debt ceiling of the administration without conditions in previous governments, and this time to avoid a global economic crisis. This is because fears of default have been repeatedly raised. Previously, Treasury Secretary Yellen sent a letter to the leadership of Congress the day before, warning that it would be difficult to meet all government payments on June 1, specifying when the debt ceiling would be reached.

On the 26th of last month, the House of Representatives, which controlled the Republican Party, single-handedly passed a bill to raise the federal government debt ceiling on the premise of cutting government spending. In the administration’s fiscal year 2024 budget, the debt ceiling will be raised by $1.5 trillion when spending is reduced to last year’s level through the elimination of the climate change fund and the end of student loan forgiveness. The current debt ceiling of the US government is $31.4 trillion (approximately 4 trillion 2107 trillion won). However, this bill, which was handled by the Republican Party, is highly likely to be blocked in the Democratic-controlled Senate, and President Biden also predicted a veto.

On the 9th, President Biden and the leaders of the opposition parties will meet at the White House to negotiate the debt limit, but there are also observations that it will stop at the level of reconfirming the positions of both sides. The Associated Press predicted, “The meeting shows that leaders of both parties understand the current danger, but it will be nothing more than a meeting.”

Spokesperson Jean-Pierre said on the same day, “However, we will have a separate conversation about spending at this meeting.” The debt ceiling was raised unconditionally as in the previous administration, but instead, the Republicans adhered to the existing position of discussing the government spending adjustment, which is an issue.

Yujin Lee reporter [email protected]