This content was published on May 23, 2023 – 5:41 PM. May 23, 2023 – 5:41 p.m
Washington, May 23 (EFE). – The countdown to reaching an agreement on the United States’ federal debt ceiling continued this Tuesday amid mixed allegations of irresponsibility between Democrats and Republicans, who accuse each other of leading the country into default.
“We really are at a crossroads in these negotiations, but President (Joe) Biden has not taken this issue seriously,” said Steve Scalise, the “number two” Republican in the House of Representatives, at a press conference.
His appearance came a day after the president and the leader of that chamber, Conservative Kevin McCarthy, held a new meeting at the White House that failed to reach an agreement but was “productive,” McCarthy said.
But nine days after June 1, the date when the Treasury Department believes that the reserves currently used to fund state obligations may be exhausted, Republicans made it clear that they cannot be blamed for any default.
“Biden is trying to rewrite history by insisting he did ‘his part’ on the debt limit and would be ‘innocent’ if the US didn’t pay. But the truth is he has refused to negotiate for more than 100 days. “No mistake: any default would be your fault,” McCarthy’s cabinet said on Tuesday.
The Republican-controlled House of Commons passed a bill last month that would raise the debt ceiling in exchange for sweeping government spending cuts, and conservatives are leaning on that text to claim it’s now up to the Senate for Democrats to defuse the situation.
“We’ve been working for months to form a coalition to pass a bill that addresses Washington’s debt ceiling and also its spending problem. And the reaction from Biden that we’re seeing over the past few days is that he continues to put no serious ideas on the table.” “Scalise criticized.
However, the Democrats accuse the other camp of putting politics before people’s needs and using the debt ceiling as a hostage to achieve their goals.
“The far-right majority wants the American people to make an impossible choice: accept devastating cuts or a devastating default,” said Katherine Clark, the number two Democrat in the House of Commons.
In his view, conservatives “invented a crisis so they could exploit and threaten the very people they brought to Washington to represent them. Here’s my advice to Leader McCarthy: Start listening to the people we represent,” he concluded.
The US has never defaulted on its national debt, but does consider the possibility from time to time because, unlike other nations, its executive branch can only issue debt up to the limit set by Congress, which has the authority to issue them suspend cover it sees fit.
The current limit of $31.4 trillion was reached last January. The government is currently using the money from its reserves to pay off the debt it has incurred. However, the Treasury expects these reserves to be exhausted by June 1 and the company would then be placed under receivership. EFE
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