12/12/2023 0 Comments Us budget deadlineThe last time the federal government came this close to default was in 2011, with a similar power divide in Washington - a Democratic president and Senate majority and a Republican-controlled House.Įach party also faces opposition to the talks from within, with hardline Republicans insisting on the sharp spending cuts they passed in a House bill last month and progressive Democrats opposed to spending cuts or new work requirements.īiden spent months saying he would not negotiate on raising the debt limit only to reverse course and begin talks with McCarthy in the last few weeks. It did so three times during Republican Donald Trump's four years in the White House without triggering a similar standoff. The source said McCarthy ‘claims he wants to negotiate, but today he said the only concession he is willing to make is to prevent default - a basic Constitutional responsibility of his job,’ reported Reuters.Ĭongress regularly needs to raise the nation's self-imposed debt limit to cover the cost of spending and tax cuts it has already approved. US President Biden is ‘willing to meet the Speaker halfway’ reported Reuters and has offered a compromise, which includes a spending freeze, rescinding significant unspent Covid relief funds and a two-year cap on spending in line with previous bipartisan budget agreements. Negotiators differ over Republicans proposals to impose new work requirements on benefits programs for low-income Americans, loosening energy permitting rules and clawing back some unspent funds Congress authorized to fight the COVID pandemic. "Both sides have to understand that they're not going to get everything that they want," Jean-Pierre said at a briefing. The final funding package was passed as a consolidated spending bill on December 27, 2020, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. The government was initially funded through a series of five temporary continuing resolutions. White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre called the talks ‘incredibly tough.’ The United States federal budget for fiscal year 2021 ran from Octoto September 30, 2021. Republicans want to cut spending for the 2024 fiscal year beginning in October back to 2022 levels, while Democrats have pushed to hold it steady at this year's rate. "The biggest gap we have is the funding issue," said McCarthy's lead negotiator, Representative Garret Graves, after Tuesday's talks, reported Reuters. The teams face an even tighter timeline as it could easily take a week to write any deal into legislation and pass it through the narrowly divided Congress. The negotiating teams of Biden and McCarthy's have had no significant progress after a two-hour meeting at the Capitol on Tuesday, reported Reuters. The Treasury Department has warned it could run short of cash to meet all its needs as soon as June 1.
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