Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a co-chair of the House Problem Solvers Caucus, said Sunday that GOP members of his bipartisan group are ready to break with their party leadership on some aspects of the debt ceiling negotiations but they remain committed to attaching some spending cuts.
“We can’t have a clean debt ceiling increase,” Fitzpatrick told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union,” indicating that it is still a red line for moderate and swing-district Republicans.
But he also added, “We’re going to do whatever is in the best interest of our country,” pointing to the bipartisan infrastructure package that passed with the help of several Republicans in 2021.
In the same interview, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, the caucus’s other co-chair, pushed back on the White House’s previous assertions that it would not negotiate on the debt ceiling.
“I think it’s irresponsible not to have the conversation, just like it’s irresponsible to default on our responsibilities as a country and put the full faith and credit United States at risk,” the New Jersey Democrat said.
President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy held talks at the White House last week to address the debt limit. McCarthy signaled optimism following the meeting that both he and Biden can reach consensus “long before” the United States reaches default.
The US hit the debt ceiling set by Congress in January, forcing the Treasury Department to start taking extraordinary measures to keep the government paying its bills and escalating pressure on Capitol Hill to avoid a catastrophic default later this year.
Gottheimer said the Problem Solvers Caucus is working on backup options if talks between Biden and McCarthy fall apart.
“Our hope, of course, is that leadership and the White House are able to work something…
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