McCarthy insists he hasn't released the Republican's budget because Biden has 'delayed his'

So far, President Biden and Chairman Kevin McCarthy have no plans to meet again to discuss budget negotiations before a June deadline that could trigger a default, the California Republican told reporters. journalists.

Biden is expected to unveil his budget on Thursday — and the GOP budget is due out in April.

McCarthy hit out at Biden for missing the February deadline to unveil the budget while Biden pressed the speaker to release his own spending plans.

“One of the biggest challenges we have is the disappointment that the president has fallen so far behind in developing his budget,” said McCarthy, who asked when Republicans would detail their own plans.

“One of the biggest challenges we have is the disappointment that the president is so late in coming up with his budget,” said McCarthy, who asked when Republicans would detail their own plans.

McCarthy claimed Republicans couldn’t work on their own budget until they saw the Democratic framework. “We’ll analyze that budget and then we’ll get to work on our budget.”

McCarthy said he thinks there might be “common ground”, but “there will be no new taxes”. Biden’s deficit-cutting provisions are expected to rely heavily on new taxes on the wealthy.

The speaker would not provide any further details on what will be included in the GOP budget or when exactly it will be released.

Biden’s White House hit out at Republicans for huddling with former Trump budget chief Russell Vought, and Vought confirmed to The New York Times that he was advising them on cuts to a ‘woke and armed government’. “.

Vought reportedly proposed a 45% cut in foreign aid, work requirements for Americans on food stamps or Medicaid, and a 43% cut in housing programs and a 29% cut in the Department of Health and of Social Services.

McCarthy also said Biden hadn’t called him to set up a second meeting to talk about the budget – and urged him to do so soon.

“He didn’t reach out. He told me once he would,” the speaker told reporters.

“I think he will eventually, but it’s a wasted month. It’s a month that brings more financial doubts, it’s a month that hurts Americans. The sooner we get together, the better all America will be so eager for him to be ready to sit down and be able to get things done.

Meanwhile, Phil Swagel, director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), briefed the House on Wednesday to discuss the fiscal outlook and national debt implications.

Rep. Greg Murphy, RN.C., told DailyMail.com it was a “good bipartisan meeting” where the CBO director was “confirmed debt is a real issue.”

The country hit its borrowing limit of $31.4 trillion in January, prompting the Treasury to take “extraordinary measures” to extend the deadline for the government to run out of money until June. Congress must now act to raise the debt ceiling.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy has insisted that the GOP-led House will not agree to raise the debt ceiling unless there are reductions in the fiscal year 2024 budget. The president Biden has strongly opposed debt limit negotiations.

In its annual budget outlook last month, the CBO projected interest payments on the national debt to reach $10 trillion over the next 10 years. He revealed that combined spending on Social Security and Medicare would almost double by 2033, pushing $4 trillion and accounting for 10% of economic output.

President Biden is expected to release his budget on Thursday – and he says it will include $3 trillion in deficit reduction, mostly funded by tax increases on the wealthy. House Republicans will release their own budget in mid-April. They are considering non-defense discretionary spending cuts of $150 billion to save $1.5 trillion over a decade and keep annual spending increases to 1%.

In a post on the CBO’s website this week, Swagel said Congress could “almost stabilize” debt growth by cutting deficits by an average of $500 billion a year for a $5 trillion economy. dollars over the next decade – far greater reductions than either party. considering.

Meanwhile, House Ways and Means Republicans are drafting a plan B if McCarthy and Biden maintain their standoff on the debt ceiling, bringing the nation one step closer to default.

The committee announced on Thursday it would pass a measure that would allow the Treasury to continue borrowing money to pay interest on the national debt if the two sides fail to reach a budget deal before funds run out – a a sign that suggests they’re not entirely confident the two sides will find a deal.