“I suggested that instead of making debt ceiling threats, which would be catastrophic, we present our budgets,” Biden said. “Here’s the bottom line: I’m simply not going to let the country default on its debt for the first time in history,” he added.
The White House is scheduled to release its budget on March 9.
House Republicans, the party that now controls that room, want to use the debt ceiling as leverage to push through spending cuts, after two years in which Biden’s Democrats controlled both the House and the Senate.
Republicans have yet to rally around a specific plan, though McCarthy has said they won’t try to cut the two biggest benefit programs, Social Security and Medicare.
Congress raised the debt ceiling three times during Republican Donald Trump’s four years in the White House, but has often attached conditions to the increase. Only 26 of the 60 debt ceiling increases since 1978 have passed on their own, with many of the bills paired with other budget and spending measures.
The White House has said Biden will discuss federal spending cuts with Republicans, but only after the debt ceiling is lifted, while McCarthy has said Republicans will only raise the ceiling if Biden accepts spending cuts.
Despite the differences, both parties affirm that they will continue to have talks.