In a memo to “stakeholders,” Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council, and Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, said Biden would challenge McCarthy in two areas:
- Whether he will “commit to the fundamental principle that the United States will never default on its financial obligations” and whether he will accept “that it is essential to avoid the brinkmanship of the debt limit.”
- Whether the Republicans will release a budget “so the American people can see how House Republicans plan to cut the deficit.” The memo says Biden will release his budget on March 9.
The memo amounts to an attempt by the White House to set the agenda and put McCarthy on the defensive ahead of a meeting he requested.
“Any serious conversation about economic and fiscal policy must begin with a clear understanding of the goals and proposals of the participants,” Deese and Young wrote in the memo. “Speaker McCarthy and his Caucus must transparently present their fiscal and economic proposals to the American people in the normal budget process.”
In the memo, Deese and Young seek to portray McCarthy as out of step with other national leaders from both parties, noting, for example, that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is among those that they have spoken out about the importance of the United States meeting its financial obligations; and that Republican Presidents Trump and Ronald Reagan tried to avoid risky politics on the issue.
McCarthy has said that Social Security and Medicare are “off the table” for spending cuts, but that all other programs, including money for the military, should be scrutinized for spending cuts.
However, some in the House GOP have raised the possibility of cuts to the two main entitlement programs. The effort would certainly fail in the Democratic-led Senate, where Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.) has rejected the idea.
Earlier this month, the Treasury Department began “extraordinary measures” to pay the nation’s bills after reaching its limit on how much it can borrow. The government is expected to continue operating that way until June.
