‘Everybody needs to relax’: As debt talks stall in Washington, McConnell plays it cool in KY
Mitch McConnell attempted to cool the tensions and uncertainty on Tuesday around the stalemate between Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden about a deal to lift the nation’s debt ceiling.
The nation is just nine days from a June 1 deadline to avoid a potential default, but speaking in Lexington, the Senate GOP leader reiterated his consistent position that the U.S. would not fail to meet its financial obligations.
“I think everybody needs to relax,” McConnell said. “The last ten times we raised the debt ceiling, there were things attached to it. This is not that unusual. And it’s almost entirely required when you have divided government.”
McConnell has largely stayed out of the negotiations over the types of spending cuts sought by Republicans in order to provide votes to lift the borrowing limit. A Monday evening meeting at the White House between McCarthy and Biden again ended without an agreement.
“The speaker keeps me informed, obviously, of what’s going on. And I’m sure the president makes sure Sen. [Chuck] Schumer and Leader [Hakeem] Jeffries in the House know what’s going on,” McConnell told reporters.
McConnell still pinned the blame on Biden for the tight timeline left to establish some sort of compromise, saying Biden’s demand for a clean debt ceiling hike – without any strings – was “never possible,” due to Republican control of the House.
But he remained optimistic and predicted a bipartisan deal in the coming days.
“I’m optimistic we’ll get an outcome,” he said. “Regardless of what may be said about the talks on a day-to-day basis, the president and the speaker will reach an agreement. It will ultimately be passed on a bipartisan vote in both the House and the Senate … The country will not default.”
According to the centrist political think tank, The Third Way, a default could eliminate 40,000 jobs in Kentucky. The group also estimates that the average Kentucky mortgage would increase by $114,000 if the nation cannot fulfill its debts by next Thursday.
The Bipartisan Policy Center estimated in its latest projection Tuesday that there is “an elevated risk [of default]” between June 2 and June 13.
McCarthy said he expected to speak with Biden every day until they have an agreement, but the Senate is currently not in session and McConnell is scheduled to remain in Kentucky this week ahead of the Memorial Day holiday, barring a breakthrough.
Herald-Leader reporter Monica Kast contributed to this report.
