With the June 1 deadline looming, House Democrats and Republicans continue to hash out a solution to the debt ceiling crisis, which could see the U.S. default on June 1. A major sticking point for the GOP remains whether work requirements will be added to some welfare programs. Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) on Wednesday rejected that stipulation, calling it a “non-starter.”
President Biden boarded Air Force One for an overseas trip Wednesday but left “a message of reassurance” for House Republicans.
A reporter began asking the assembled Republicans about Biden’s stipulation that “he’d accept not anything of any consequence,” which caused House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other Republicans to burst into laughter, while someone shouted “Loser!”
“I don’t under — anything that has consequences,” sputtered McCarthy. “This is a Senator who voted for work requirements. If he doesn’t want to have something that has consequences, he wants to borrow more money from China to pay an able-bodied person who has no dependents. Not even to look for a job. Not even go to school for 20 hours.”
Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) said bigger savings could be achieved by cutting defense instead of welfare programs.
“We have a lot of waste in the defense budget, which is going to defense contractors, which are going for some programs that are outdated or not necessary,” Khanna said. “If people want to argue on work requirements, and I disagree, let’s argue about them but let’s not pretend that that’s going to somehow reduce deficits in this country; that’s a very small relative number.”
“Khanna also proposed raising taxes on the very wealthy as a way to balance the budget, but the speaker flatly rejected that idea, saying that spending is what caused inflation, raised interest rates, and caused bank failures,” said Fox reporter Jacqui Heinrich. “Meaning, right now, the gulf between the two sides is as wide as ever with that deadline quickly approaching and the president bound for Asia.”
Watch the Fox News video above.
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