House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said Monday he is open to the idea of freezing spending at current levels to secure a debt ceiling deal. The idea is endorsed by President Biden, but is sure to infuriate liberals in the Jeffries-led Democratic caucus. .
“We are open to considering a spending freeze as part of our effort to find a common ground,” Jeffries told reporters outside the Capitol. “It’s not an extreme proposition. It’s a reasonable proposition.”
During a meeting with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R, California), the White House proposed to Republicans freeze federal spending at its current 2023 levels, but McCarthy rejected the offer.
“There are a lot of freezes. If you freeze, you spend the same amount,” McCarthy said Monday night after meeting with Biden at the White House to continue negotiations.
The spending cap has emerged as a central stalemate in the high stakes debate over raising the debt ceiling and preventing the government from defaulting, with the Treasury Department threatening to default as early as June 1. warned that it may
Behind McCarthy, Republicans have insisted that the debt ceiling be raised as a condition of massive spending cuts, using the threat of default to pressure Biden to accept the terms.
House Republicans last month passed a debt ceiling easing that would bring spending in 2024 back to 2022 levels, with cuts estimated to be about $130 billion below 2023 levels. They note that the 2022 spending level was enacted in December when Congress passed a huge government funding bill that establishes the current 2023 level.
“It wasn’t a big cut. It’s the same money we were spending five months ago,” said Rep. Scott Perry (R., Pennsylvania), head of the hardline Freedom Caucus. . bill passed by the House of Representatives.
“What we are happy to accept is what passed last month,” Perry added. “So we passed.”
Highlighting the crisis facing Democratic leaders, many liberals are fighting for more federal spending, warning that cuts will harm programs that benefit the most vulnerable. there is
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a staunch liberal, praised Biden on Monday for resisting what he characterized as “some of the extreme demands” from Republicans. But she also warned that there are limits to how far Mr. Biden can compromise, and accepting cuts “would be a problem” for progressives.
“We don’t negotiate debt ceilings for this very reason,” she said.
Mr. Jeffries conceded that spending freezes, which Democrats have positioned as cuts when inflation is priced in, are unpopular. But he suggested he was willing to accept it anyway as a concession to the Republicans who control the House.
“Any proposal that could imply a spending freeze is not a proposal made public by the Left,” Jeffries said. “This is an essentially rational effort to find common ground in a situation where government is divided.”
McCarthy and Biden failed to reach a deal at their White House meeting on Monday. But McCarthy said the two sides were “very close” to a deal and that staff-level talks were expected to continue until Monday night.
Visit The Hill for the latest news, weather, sports and streaming videos.
First edition issued
