Debt Ceiling: Will Biden and Congress Overcome Partisan Gridlock?

A new House GOP bill to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion and cut spending drew fresh attention to the issue, but the path to avoiding a government default remained unclear. 

For Context: House Republicans have for months demanded spending cuts as a condition of avoiding a default. However, President Joe Biden has refused to negotiate, insisting that spending cuts should be considered separately from the debt limit. 

GOP Bill: House Republicans say their plan would save about $4.5 trillion over a decade. Proposed spending cuts include rescinding unspent COVID-19 funds, rescinding recently-approved IRS funding, rescinding clean energy tax credits, blocking student loan forgiveness, increasing work requirements for food stamps and Medicaid, returning agency budgets to 2022 levels, and capping budget increases at 1% per year. 

Political Reactions: The White House said the GOP bill would “devastate hard-working American families.” While some House Republicans signaled support for the bill, others reportedly opposed it for not cutting enough spending. Democrats generally opposed the bill, but some reportedly questioned Biden’s stance against negotiating. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said the lack of a Biden-McCarthy meeting signaled a “deficiency of leadership.”

Media Reactions: Media voices offered a wide range of perspectives, but opinions generally correlated with writers’ political leanings. While a Bloomberg (Lean Left bias) editorial called on Biden to negotiate, a Washington Post (Lean Left bias) editorial called on Republicans to raise the debt limit and negotiate spending cuts separately. Opinions appeared less common in right-rated outlets; a writer at Reason (Lean Right bias) called the debt ceiling disagreement “deeply unserious,” and a Wall Street Journal (Opinion rated Lean Right) writer increased higher work requirements.