Biden, McCarthy, once breakfast mates, wrangle over US debt

WASHINGTON — Not so long ago, Joe Biden and Republican leader Kevin McCarthy used to talk things over at breakfast in Biden’s vice presidential home at the Naval Observatory. “He was always a person who would like to try to find solutions, work together.” Biden has signaled no such open-ended hospitality this time as newly emboldened House Republicans court a risky debt ceiling showdown. And: “When will Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans release their Budget?” The memo, from White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and Shalanda Young, the Office of Management and Budget director, noted that Biden will be releasing the administration’s budget on March 9 — notably blowing past a February deadline — and called on McCarthy to detail precisely how Republicans would cut the government spending that they insist is too high. “The deal has to be cut, obviously, between the House majority and the Democratic president, in order for it to have a chance to survive over here.” Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D., said that Biden and McCarthy “don’t have the historic relationship that Senator McConnell and Biden have had through the years, but I do think circumstances necessitate and dictate at times that people have to come together -- whether they like it or not.” Like the Republicans, Democrats are skeptical of dealing with the opposing party. Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Rep. Pramila Jayapal said Biden “has seen over the last two years who he’s negotiating with — these are not people who are actually about negotiating something that makes sense for the working people.” The president, she added, has been “such a champion of working people and reversing inequality” that any budget-slashing deal with Republicans “would reverse all of that work.” Refusal to negotiate with Republicans has been off-brand for Biden, who has championed his decades of experience in building relationships with lawmakers, governors and administrations of both parties.