As the collapse of California's Silicon Valley Bank sparked fears of a bank run and financial crash, no one from the Biden administration called House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the most influential politician from California and the most powerful Republican in Congress. Although McCarthy proactively contacted Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, he did not connect with any top White House officials over the weekend.
An internal White House memo shows that Biden has reached out to the House Republican leader again and again, calling him on his birthday and on his becoming speaker. Overall, the White House has invited McCarthy to visit more than 20 times; he came eight. Despite this, the two leaders are barely on speaking terms, which is a major problem as they will need to strike a compromise in the coming months to keep the nation from defaulting on its debt and to prevent the government from shutting down in the fall.
Biden accuses some Republicans of wanting to 'take the economy hostage' (msn.com)
Currently, no meaningful negotiations are underway, and the deadline to avoid a catastrophic default, according to the Treasury Department, is June 5. McCarthy and the Republicans are demanding that deep spending cuts be tied to any hike in the debt ceiling, which Biden has rejected.
McCarthy's growing frustration was evident during a St. Patrick's Day lunch in the Capitol, where he asked Biden when the two could sit down again and start negotiating. On Tuesday, McCarthy fired off a letter to Biden, arguing that the president's refusal to negotiate on "out-of-control spending" was jeopardizing the fragile economy. The speaker insisted that Biden's team reach out by the end of the week to set up a meeting.
In reply to McCarthy's letter, the White House dug in. Speaking to reporters Tuesday before departing North Carolina, where he'd given a speech, Biden was asked if he planned to meet with McCarthy in the event he does not put forward a budget proposal. Republicans said Biden's focus on a GOP budget is about political gamesmanship given that House Democrats did not produce a traditional budget when they were in power.
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