Latest warnings from Republicans about Biden’s big night

The president will deliver his second State of the Union address, his first to a divided Congress, at a time of tense debate over the nation’s debt ceiling and fresh from news of a Chinese spy balloon traversing the mainland. from USA

House Republicans, fresh off their new majority in this Congress, say President Biden should use Tuesday’s State of the Union address to get across the aisle and avoid his favorite label for the GOP: ‘Republican’. extreme MAGA’.

What message should Biden send tonight?

“He has to show his willingness to work across the aisle and work with President McCarthy,” Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican newcomer who won a seat in the New York House of Representatives in the midterm elections.

“If the president steps up to that hallowed podium as part of his constitutional duty to deliver a State of the Union address and uses that opportunity to hurl hyperpartisan insults, I think that will be a real missed opportunity, and frankly, really inappropriate,” he said. Rep. Dusty Johnson, chairman of the Main Street Caucus, a pro-business moderate, told DailyMail.com.

Johnson, RS.D., said he hopes Biden addresses the “big three challenges” facing the nation: the national debt, China and the southern border, adding there was “a lot of bipartisan agreement” on what to do with China after the spy balloon saga over the weekend.

Johnson added that the “place would blow up” if Biden announced he was reinstating the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the Remain in Mexico policy that required migrants to wait for their asylum hearings south of the border.

He said there would be a “real Republican appetite” to work with Biden to tackle inflation and reduce health care costs.

Biden could refer to the GOP as ‘extreme MAGA Republicans’

On Monday, President Kevin McCarthy vowed to be “respectful” during Biden’s speech, in turn asking Biden to refrain from using the phrase “MAGA Republican extreme,” a phrase Biden has used in his public speeches. .

Biden and McCarthy are in a likely fleeting moment of détente as they work to reach an agreement to increase the debt ceiling to $31.4 trillion.

“I think it’s very telling of where they are mentally sitting there and saying MAGA extreme Republicans over and over again, but not addressing the fact that gasoline is substantially higher than it was two years ago,” said Rep. Harriet Hageman, in – great Republican congresswoman from Wyoming, he said.

‘If you want to have a debate about whether it’s a good idea to raid the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and sell it to China. We can have that debate just by calling me a MAGA extremist Republican because I don’t agree, it’s not really a discussion.’

On what she wants to hear from the president, she said: “What I want to hear and what I’d like to see and I’m pretty sure it won’t happen is for him to come in and talk about the ways we’re going.” to stop spending money. We can’t keep laundering money through DC’.

Lawler said, “I don’t think ‘MAGA Republican extreme’ is going to resonate.”

“If it goes down that path, people are hurting and they want leaders who will put petty partisanship aside and focus on how to address these challenges.”

Biden could say Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare

Biden has also taken a frequent line of attack against Republicans that includes accusing them of wanting to cut popular social programs like Social Security and Medicare.

“House Republicans threaten to cut Social Security and Medicare, putting the dignity of millions of Americans who depend on these programs at risk,” Biden tweeted Sunday. I will not tolerate that. We should strengthen these programs, not gut them.’

“I think there will be some people in the audience who will have something to say about it” if Biden repeats the claim, Rep. Greg Murphy, RN.C., told DailyMail.com.

‘I would ask [Biden] to find any Republican, I’ve also asked this of people in the media, tell me the name of a person who wants to cut benefits for seniors,” said Rep. Keith Self, R-Texas.

McCarthy has said that Social Security and Medicare will not accept budget cuts, but any other program or department, including the Pentagon, could be targeted for ‘waste’ cuts.

Republicans press Biden to present his budget before proposing cuts

Meanwhile, Republicans pressured Biden to submit his own budget proposal first before a showdown over raising the debt ceiling between the president and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“I think he is lying to the American people when he says he wants to control spending,” Republican Rep. Kevin Hern, who chairs the Republican Study Committee, told DailyMail.com.

“He doesn’t or you would have a budget that shows where his priorities are.”

Biden missed his budget deadline earlier this week, but promised to have his fiscal 2024 priorities in front of Congress by March 9.

“Speaker Pelosi always said, ‘Show me your budget and I’ll show you your priorities, values.’

But Republicans have apparently been deliberately vague about which department budgets will be cut first.

“We’re working out the details,” Hern said.

“Democrats spend huge amounts of money and then turn around and say: Hey, the Republicans are trying to fix it. If you can’t, it’s your fault. That’s not a good deal,” Hageman said, challenging fellow lawmakers across the aisle to propose cuts.

China: GOP says message of strength needed after spy balloon

Hern also said that Biden needs to use the address to increase the message of strength against China in light of the spy balloon hovering over the US.

“Clearly the stance we have with China right now is testing us,” he said.

“They are testing our resolve after what they saw in Afghanistan. They want to know what we’re going to do if they invade Taiwan?