The risks and pressures of a coming debt showdown with Republicans are quickly mounting for President Joe Biden, who is expected to announce a reelection bid as soon as next week.
Most attention so far has been on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s perilous effort to unite his fractious party and preserve his tiny majority. But the White House and top Democrats are insisting that they won’t engage with McCarthy’s demand for sweeping spending cuts in exchange for the House agreeing to lift the government’s borrowing limit to avert a disastrous debt default and a possible financial crisis this summer.
The administration’s logic is that if hostage takers get concessions they will just demand more.
But the first signs of skittishness are emerging among some Democrats on Capitol Hill in a worrying sign for the administration ahead of tense weeks that could define Biden’s domestic legacy and decide whether McCarthy can keep his slender grip on power.
Several House Democrats on Thursday expressed the hope that the president would negotiate with McCarthy. Their concerns appeared to undermine Biden’s position and raised new questions about how long his reluctance to bargain can be sustained.
“I think Joe Biden should be talking to Kevin McCarthy, even if those conversations right now prove nothing productive,” Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a freshman Florida Democrat, told CNN’s Manu Raju. Michigan Democratic Rep. Debbie Dingell warned: “We have to get this figured out,” adding, “The United States cannot default.”
Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, who’s up for reelection in deep-red West Virginia next year and is no stranger to breaking with the White House, called out “a deficiency of leadership” while praising McCarthy for offering a proposal.
But such comments are unlikely to immediately shift what appeared to be a…
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