U.S.
President
Joe
Biden
delivers
remarks
on
the
federal
government’s
debt
limit
during
a
visit
to
SUNY
Westchester
Community
College
Valhalla
in
Valhalla,
New
York,
May
10,
2023.

Kevin
Lamarque
|
Reuters

WASHINGTON

President
Joe
Biden
and
House
Republicans
remained
far
apart
Tuesday,
following
an
hour
long
meeting
on
the
debt
ceiling
in
the
Oval
Office
that
all
four
top
congressional
leaders
attended.

But
attendees
said
they
made
progress,
including
through
an
agreement
to
turn
the
multilateral
debt
limit
negotiations
into
direct
one-to-one
talks
between
a
close
ally
of
House
Speaker
Kevin
McCarthy
and
two
White
House
aides,
on
Biden’s
behalf.

“That
doesn’t
mean
we’re
going
to
get
to
an
agreement,”
McCarthy
told
reporters
after
the
meeting,
but
he
said
there
was
“now
a
better
process”
overall.

Biden
told
reporters
he
is
often
tasked
with
addressing
multiple
things
at
once,
and
he
feels
confident
the
negotiations
will
progress
even
as
he
attends
the
G-7
summit.

“There’s
still
work
to
do
but
I
made
it
clear
to
the
speaker
and
others
that
we’ll
speak
regularly
over
the
next
several
days
and
the
staffs’
going
to
continue
meeting
daily
to
make
sure
we
do
not
default,”
Biden
told
reporters
after
the
meeting.

The
White
House
said
Biden “directed
staff
to
continue
to
meet
daily
on
outstanding
issues.
He
said
that
he
would
like
to
check
in
with
leaders
later
this
week
by
phone,
and
meet
with
them
upon
his
return
from
overseas.”

“There
was
an
overwhelming
consensus
I
think
in
today’s
meeting
with
congressional
leaders
that
defaulting
on
the
debt
is
simply
not
an
option,”
Biden
told
reporters.

The
president
said
he
was
disappointed
congressional
Republicans
have
been
unwilling
to
discuss
“raising
revenues”
but
progress
is
being
made.

It
was
“a
good
and
productive
meeting,” said
Senate
Majority
Leader
Chuck
Schumer,
D-N.Y.,
who
noted
that
it
was
“more
cordial”
than
a
previous
meeting
last
week.

“Having
a
bipartisan
bill
in
both
chambers
is
the
only
way

we’re
going
to
avoid
default,”
Schumer
said.

The
White
House
also
said
Tuesday
that
it
would
cancel
the
second
leg
of
the
president’s
upcoming
international
trip,
given
the
delicate
state
of
the
debt
ceiling
negotiations.

Biden
is
currently
scheduled
to
depart
Wednesday
for
Japan,
where
he
will
attend
the
G-7
summit.
He
will
now
return
to
the
U.S.
on
Sunday
immediately
after
the
meeting
ends,
and
will
not
make
planned
visits
to
Papua
New
Guinea
and
Australia,
a
source
familiar
with
Biden’s
trip
planning
told
NBC
News.

His
return
will
set
up
a
critical
stretch
in
the
efforts
to
avoid
a
first-ever
default
on
U.S.
debt
and
prevent
major
economic
damage.

Biden
and
Vice
President
Kamala
Harris
met
Tuesday
with
McCarthy,
Minority
Leader
Hakeem
Jeffries,
D-N.Y.,
Senate
Majority
Leader
Chuck
Schumer,
D-N.Y.,
and
Minority
Leader
Mitch
McConnell,
R-Ky.
McCarthy
said
his
side
would
be
represented
in
the
ongoing
talks
by
his
close
ally
in
the
House,
Rep.
Garrett
Graves,
R-La.,
and
that
the
White
House
would
deploy
Shalanda
Young,
director
of
the
White
House
Office
of
Management
and
Budget,
and
Steve
Ricchetti,
one
of
Biden’s
closest
advisors
in
the
West
Wing.

In
recent
days,
stricter
work
requirements
for
social
safety
net
programs
have
emerged
as
a
potential
area
of
compromise.

CNBC
Politics

Read
more
of
CNBC’s
politics
coverage:

The
work
restrictions
for
social
programs
are
a
key
demand
of
House
Republicans,
who
included
them
in
a
partisan
debt
limit
bill
that
passed
that
chamber
last
month.

“The
public
wants
it,”
McCarthy
said
Tuesday,
citing
a
recent
ballot
initiative
in
Wisconsin.
“Both
parties
want
it,
the
idea
that
[Democrats]
want
to
put
us
into
a
default
because
they
will
not
work
with
us
on
that
is
ludicrous
to
me.”

But
the
issue
is
also
a
red
line
for
some
progressive
Democrats,
a
fact
that
could
scramble
the
vote
math
of
any
debt
limit
deal
that
could
pass
the
House.

Increasing
the
current
work
requirements
for
federal
assistance
programs
are
“a
nonstarter
for
me,”
said
Rep.
Ro
Khanna,
a
California
Democrat
and
member
of
the
Congressional
Progressive
Caucus,
on
MSNBC.

“It’s
just
cruel,
especially
as
we
see
the
slowing
down
of
the
economy,”
Khanna
said.
“I’m
hopeful
the
president
will
stick
to
what
he
said,
that
we
pay
our
debts
and
then
we
can
negotiate
on
the
budget.”

Over
the
weekend,
Biden
answered
a
question
about
the
work
requirements
by
pointing
to
his
own
Senate
record
of
voting
for
welfare
work
requirements
in
the
1990s.

“I
voted
for
tougher
aid
programs,
that’s
in
the
law
now,
but
for
Medicaid
it’s
a
different
story,”
Biden
said
Sunday
in
Rehoboth,
Del.
“And
so
I’m
waiting
to
hear
what
their
exact
proposal
is.”

A
Republican
bill
passed
last
month
included
stricter
work
requirements
not
only
for
Medicaid,
but
for
the
Temporary
Assistance
to
Needy
Families,
or
TANF,
funds,
as
well
as
Supplemental
Nutrition
Assistance
Program
food
stamps.

The
White
House
reiterated
Tuesday
that
Biden
would
reject
at
least
some
of
the
proposed
work
requirements.

Biden
“will
not
accept
proposals
that
will
take
away
people’s
health
coverage,”
said
White
House
press
secretary
Karine
Jean-Pierre.
She
did
not
say,
however,
that
he
would
not
accept
changes
to
food
stamps
or
temporary
assistance
programs.


This
is
a
developing
story,
please
check
back
for
updates.