President Joe Biden assailed House Republicans over their legislative agenda, which he said would add $3 trillion to the national debt over a decade, while benefiting the wealthy and large corporations.
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden assailed House Republicans over their legislative agenda, which he said would add $3 trillion to the national debt over a decade, while benefiting the wealthy and large corporations.
“How are they going to make these numbers add up?,” Biden said Wednesday during a speech at a Maryland union hall.
Biden spoke flanked by union workers and in front of a large American flag, the latest campaign-style event at which he has ramped up attacks on Republicans over their demands for spending cuts in exchange for their votes to raise the debt limit, a showdown the president says risks damaging the country’s full faith and credit.
Biden spoke shortly after a nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office report warned that the federal government would be at risk of a payment default as soon as July if lawmakers fail to raise the debt limit, raising the urgency for Republicans and the White House to reach a deal.
Read more: US Treasury Risks a Payment Default as Soon as July, CBO Says
Biden said Republicans had voted to raise the debt ceiling under former President Donald Trump without preconditions.
“Why would you want to throw it into a crisis now?” he said. “I’ll tell you why: It’s just politics.”
The high-stakes fight is taking place as Biden prepares to launch his expected run for reelection in 2024. He has signaled he plans to use Republicans’ economic plans against them as part of his campaign message.
Biden said his budget — to be released March 9 — would cut the deficit by $2 trillion over that same time frame and “lower costs and protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare.” He has accused Republicans of wanting to slash entitlement programs amid the debt-ceiling standoff, citing a plan Florida Senator Rick Scott issued last year.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has said Social Security and Medicare cuts are not on the table in the debt-limit talks.
“Democrats’ reckless spending is plunging our country into deeper debt & jeopardizing our economy,” McCarthy said in a tweet Wednesday after the CBO report.
“A blank check for more spending will destroy our country. That’s why we must negotiate a responsible debt limit increase that gets our fiscal house back in order.”
–With assistance from Akayla Gardner.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.