(RepublicanDaily.org) – The White House continues to argue House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s proposed spending budget bill was drafted in response to the U.S. Treasury’s announcement that the U.S. could soon default on government bills. White House officials claim that McCarthy’s bill would “gut” Veterans Affairs among other things, USA Today reported.
As McCarthy’s bill floundered in the House, the House and Senate Democrats unveiled a bill to “bypass” his proposal, Axios reported. The House and Senate Democrats reportedly are taking “procedures” to attempt to force a clean debt ceiling limit increase without having to pass the spending contingencies on the national budget that Republicans want to negotiate. The House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries addressed a letter to his colleagues explaining that House Republicans were seeking a vote to file a “discharge petition.”
This discharge petition would reportedly require 218 votes to force a vote on a clean debt limit increase. In his letter to colleagues, which was published on May 2, Jeffries accused MAGA Republicans of “engineering” a national default.
On May 3, Democrats offered a preview of their plan to “outflank” the House Speaker, The Guardian reported. The Democrat petition reportedly drew from the lessons of the 2011 debt crisis. The proposal is the product of “months” of planning to bypass McCarthy, Business Insider wrote.
As the battle in Congress continues between House Representatives and Senators, President Biden’s strategy has been pondered by political analysts. Biden will seek to petition Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R. Ky) to engage with his colleagues, Politico reported.
Political analysts have reasoned that the White House and the President have consciously “side-stepped” a one-on-one meeting between Biden and McCarthy, choosing to bring the four leaders of Congress together at the negotiation table.
A senior Biden administration official explained to Politico that having a four-way meeting is part of the normal budget discussion, as each of the four Congress leaders has a stake in the outcome.
The debt ceiling meeting at the White House was scheduled to take place on May 9 at the time of this report.
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