Kevin McCarthy praises ‘productive discussion’ with Biden on debt ceiling
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said Monday he had a “productive discussion” with Speaker Joe Biden.
McCarthy said after leaving a White House meeting with Biden: “I felt we had a productive discussion. We don’t have an agreement yet. ” He added that he continues to oppose any measures to increase taxes or increase revenue under a debt ceiling agreement.
“The tone tonight was better than any other time we’ve had discussions,” McCarthy said. added.
White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Shalanda Young, Deputy Chief of Staff Bruce Reed and other White House staffers stand by in the Oval Office as as U.S. President Joe Biden and congressional leaders face the press prior to a meeting on raising the debt limit in the Oval Office of the White House on May 16, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The debt ceiling meeting included White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young, Biden adviser Steve Richetti and the Office of Legislative Affairs ( OLA) Louisa Terrell.
On McCarthy’s side, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, McCarthy chief of staff Dan Meyer and McCarthy adviser Brittan Specht assisted the meeting.
“We had difficult meetings. We had difficult meetings. This meeting was productive… No acrimony”, McHenry said.
Top Republican Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO) of the House Budget Committee, joined at left by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., comments to reporters as Congress prepares for its first votes on the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) told Breitbart News in an exclusive interview ahead of the meeting that the passage of the Limit, Save, Grow Act or the cap bill GOP debt would have a “huge” impact on inflation.
He said: “Inflation was 1.4% in Joe Biden’s first month in office and then they went on a $10 trillion spending spree which led to an increase in inflation. 14.9% inflation since Joe Biden was sworn in. The Limit, Save, Grow Act will reduce spending by $4.8 trillion over the next 10 years with spending caps; they will also cancel uncommitted COVID dollars and also impose work requirements to address labor shortages. All of these things will help reduce inflation.
The Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) initial analysis of the Limit, Save, Grow Act found that it would reduce the deficit by $4.8 trillion over the next ten years. The CBO found that the bill would create the following savings:
Sean Moran is a political reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
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