Reporter: And the last one, just on that shouted question that he did respond to on — on the debt ceiling. Having heard your response to questions that were answered already here today, you’ve had now Democrats saying that Republicans have, you know, come to the table — might not like what they came to the table with, but it’s time for the dialogue. You know, how long can this posture from the President last before it feels like intellectually dishonest to say, you know, they’re holding the economy hostage and not raising the debt ceiling when they did pass a bill to raise the debt ceiling, and the — the argument is really about the — the budget cuts, the spending cuts, and not about whether or not the debt ceiling gets raised?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So, I have to say, Jacqui, I disagree with the “intellectually dishonest.” That is certainly not how we see ourselves here because we’ve been very, very clear that they need to deal with the debt ceiling. They need to not default …
Reporter: So they won’t talk unless it’s without conditions?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No, but — no —
Reporter: Like, unless it’s a clean bill, they won’t talk.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, I’ve been very clear: Without conditions we’ll — we will not negotiate. There’s not — there’s nothing new there … We cannot be dead- — a deadbeat nation. We cannot be.
Reporter: So no meeting unless it’s a clean debt bill.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I — I — look, I — we’ve been very clear about this. We’ve been very, very clear. I appreciate — I appreciate the merit of the question. Let me just take a question from the back.
The White House has made clear it is not willing to barter with Republicans over whether or not the nation will pay its bills. Democrats opposed the harsh spending cuts Republicans proposed, and the president vowed to veto McCarthy’s bill. “We’re not negotiating on this,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. The president has indicated he’s willing to talk budget issues, she said. But he’s not engaging on whether or not the nation will raise the debt limit.
The U.S. is not a “deadbeat nation” and always pays its debt, she said. “House Republicans are holding our economy hostage and threatening default.”
Speaker Kevin McCarthy surprised Washington when he showed he could unite the House Republican majority to pass a sweeping package to raise the nation’s debt limit by $1.5 trillion in exchange for spending reductions, an opening bid awaiting President Joe Biden’s response. “We’ve lifted the debt limit. We’ve sent it to the Senate. We’ve done our job,” McCarthy said after Wednesday’s vote. McCarthy said the president “should sit down and negotiate.”
Biden and his Democratic allies in Congress want to simply raise the debt limit with no strings attached, a throwback to an earlier era. Democrats negotiated their own priorities to raise the debt limit during the Trump presidency.
Reporter: House Republicans passed legislation on the budget and debt limit. What is the White House’s response to this? And do you feel like the ball is in your court now to, you know, start negotiations with House Republicans as the next move?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: … As the President said yesterday, he’s happy to meet with Speaker McCarthy but not on whether or not the debt limit gets extended. That is not negotiable, and we have been very clear about this for the past several months. We have not minced words here … We are not negotiating on this. We have been very clear it is their constitutional duty to take action.
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Intellectually dishonest: McCarthy lifted debt limit, not negotiate unless it’s a clean bill?