Speaker McCarthy responds to Biden's debt ceiling jab ahead of their meeting
Biden, Speaker McCarthy to hold debt ceiling talks Wednesday
House speaker Kevin McCarthy discusses his upcoming meeting with President Biden regarding the U.S.’s massive debt on ‘The Bottom Line.’
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., responded to the president’s jab on Monday that he’ll show his budget if McCarthy shows his.
"For the president to say he doesn't want to negotiate something this large... When you think back to 2011, when he was vice president, they even called the negotiations over the debt ceiling, the Biden negotiations," McCarthy said on "The Bottom Line" Monday evening.
"I mean, to think that the president believes there's no place in government you can't cut and have a savings for the hardworking taxpayers?" the speaker continued. "There's so much waste out there, and we've got to put ourselves back on a trajectory that balances."
Earlier this month, the U.S. bumped up against the debt ceiling, which is currently around $31.4 trillion, forcing the Treasury Department to deploy "extraordinary measures" to ensure that the government can continue to pay its bills.
KEVIN MCCARTHY AGREES TO BIDEN MEETING
When approached by reporters ahead of their bipartisan meeting on Wednesday, President Biden had sent a message to the House speaker: "Show me your budget, and I’ll show you mine."
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy calls for government spending to get "back on a trajectory that balances" on "The Bottom Line" Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. (Getty Images)
Reacting to Biden’s remarks, McCarthy expressed his plans to discuss a balanced budget in-person with the president, arguing "every family does it, every business, every state, every county."
"We need to sit down together, find common ground, find where we can eliminate the waste, and let's put our country back on a path where we can balance and get our future brighter than before," McCarthy said. "We're going to work very closely together, and I think you're going to find us more united than ever before."
Fox News congressional correspondent Chad Pergram has the details from Capitol Hill on 'Cavuto: Coast to Coast.'
The Biden administration has drawn a red line at cuts to Social Security and Medicare, with White House spokesperson Andrew Bates accusing Republicans of trying to cut "vital lifelines for the middle class that Americans pay into throughout their lives."
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Speaker Kevin McCarthy on his hopes for his meeting with President Biden and the debt ceiling fight ahead on 'Kudlow.'
"For years, congressional Republicans have advocated for slashing earned benefits using Washington code words like ‘strengthen,’ when their policies would privatize Medicare and Social Security, raise the retirement age, or cut benefits," Bates said in a statement.
Congress last voted to raise the debt ceiling in December 2021. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen projected that the government can pay its bills through early June.
FOX Business’ Paul Best contributed to this report.