Instead, Republicans are pushing for increased defense spending and deeper domestic spending cuts, the interlocutors said, challenging White House negotiators seeking to resolve the debt ceiling impasse. They disagree with what they see as “draconian changes” to federal programs.
During negotiations ahead of a deadline that could be less than two weeks away, US President Joe Biden’s aides made a “key concession” by suggesting that Congress largely keep spending on a wide range of domestic programs, including including education, research and housing assistance, unchanged . The president’s negotiators have also suggested that military spending for next year should generally be kept at the same level.
However, GOP leaders dismissed the proposal as insufficient because they seek to use the national debt ceiling that needs to be raised to avert economic disaster, sources said. Republicans in Congress are also pushing for more spending on the military, veterans care and border security, which means any domestic spending cuts would have to be significantly larger if the whole deal is yet to come. reduce the deficit.
GOP leaders have said they will not support a bill that funds the government at higher levels next year than this year. A source said the White House proposal would increase spending on national programs by “billions” of dollars next year, although it would spend far less than just adjusted for inflation. “In fact, they want to spend more money than we’ve spent this year,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters on Capitol Hill on Saturday. It will be difficult to resume talks before President Biden returns on Sunday from his trip to Asia, he said. “We can’t do that. We all know how big this deficit is,” he added.
In the meantime
According Bloomberg , President Joe Biden has asked aides to schedule a meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for Sunday after he accused the White House of refusing to negotiate to raise the US national debt ceiling. Biden received an update on stalled talks Saturday night and Sunday morning in Japan, where he is attending a G-7 leaders’ summit, a White House official said. The president intends to call the speaker on Sunday morning, Washington time, after the G7 summit concludes.
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