The White House slammed House Republicans on Wednesday for saying they are unlikely to submit their budget before the unofficial deadline for both sides to reach an agreement on raising the country’s debt ceiling.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said that every week Republican leaders “invent a new excuse to hide their budget from the American people, even as they signal that they are making devastating cuts in American manufacturing, law enforcement, Medicare benefits and our ability to block the fentanyl trade — to provide wealthy special interests with new deficit-increasing tax breaks.”
Rep. Jodey Arrington, a Texas Republican and chairman of the House Budget Committee, said Wednesday that the GOP’s budget process could take months to delay its formal proposal beyond the early June deadline to raise the nation’s credit limit.
“The more pressing matter is to address the debt ceiling while negotiating spending restraint and broader tax reforms,” Mr. Arrington told the Wall Street Journal. According to the report, Mr. Arrington would be disappointed if the House of Representatives does not pass a budget decision by the end of the fiscal year in September.
President Biden has called on House GOP leaders to present their budget proposal as a starting point for debt ceiling talks. Republicans say the President must approve spending cuts as a condition of raising the debt limit, while Mr. Biden says Congress must raise the limit without conditions.
Mr Bates said Mr Arrington “also proves correct President Biden’s warning in the State of the Union warning: They intend to cut Social Security benefits at the same time.”
The Treasury Department hit the debt limit of around $31.4 trillion in January and is now using special accounting methods to prevent the federal government from defaulting on its obligations.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the US may not be able to pay all of its bills as early as this summer.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, on Tuesday sent a letter to Mr. Biden calling for talks to start immediately. The GOP proposes trimming spending to fiscal 2022 levels and setting small annual spending increases thereafter.
The GOP also wants to reclaim unspent COVID-19 funds, expand energy policies to produce more fossil fuels, and make other proposals.
Source : www.washingtontimes.com