Republicans Want Spending Cuts, Insist Democrats Wield The Knife

House Republicans are demanding sharp spending cuts in exchange for raising the nation’s borrowing limit this year, but they’ve suggested President Joe Biden and the Democrats should specify what exactly to cut in the federal budget.

“If Washington is spending too much money, is there not some money that President Biden can identify that’s wasteful in Washington?” Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), the No. 2 House Republican, said Wednesday.

Republicans’ refusal to lay out a detailed plan for tackling the debt is a result of the many internal disagreements in the narrow House GOP majority, as well as reluctance to propose cuts to popular domestic programs, including Social Security and Medicare.

Rather than propose the spending cuts they’d like to see, Republicans complained this week about Biden’s refusal to negotiate over the debt ceiling, something they raised three times under President Donald Trump without any fuss. With a June deadline to act, the debt ceiling debate has kicked off with a debate about negotiating ― and which side is more responsible.