Debt ceiling: 2011 showdown leaves lessons for Biden, GOP
Associated PressWASHINGTON — The debate around raising the debt ceiling sounds eerily similar: Newly elected House Republicans, eager to confront the Democratic president in the White House, refused to raise the debt limit without cuts to federal spending. Negotiations over the debt ceiling consumed Washington in 2011, a high-stakes showdown between the Obama White House and the new generation of “tea party” House Republicans. Saying Americans were “taxed enough already,” the tea party House Republicans arrived promising to slash federal spending, using the debt ceiling vote as their political leverage. The Biden White House appears to have drawn the conclusion that it’s not worth negotiating with new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who won a slim GOP majority in last November’s midterm elections and who may — or may not — be able to deliver the votes on any debt ceiling deal. “What a ridiculous outcome.” Many House Republicans were not in Congress during the 2011 debt ceiling showdown.