Democrats meet privately over debt limit deal as they ramp up pressure campaign on GOP

Democrats met behind closed doors Thursday night as they plan to ramp up a pressure campaign on Republicans in Congress to get behind a clean debt limit deal with just 27 days left until the country defaults on June 1.

Democrats are pushing for lifting the debt ceiling with a “no strings attached” clean bill, while Republicans say they will not allow the country to go further into debt without spending cuts.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries reportedly held a private conversation Thursday night with other Democratic members and key stakeholders as they tried to find a way to avoid the blame for the rapidly approaching indebtedness.

According to reports from Punchbowl NewsJeffries is working with liberal advocacy groups to bolster Democratic support for a clean law and also gain the support of “some more reasonable Republicans.”

The groups include: League of Conservation Voters, Climate Power, SEIU, VoteVets, Center for American Progress, UnidosUS, the National African American Clergy Network and others.

With the passage of the House bill led by Kevin McCarthy, it appears that Republicans have no plans to introduce and support a Democrat-led clean bill anytime soon.

Schumer is confident that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will not be able to keep his GOP conference in line by a slim four-vote margin.

“A slew of hard-right congressmen have told McCarthy that they’re not negotiating, that it’s this proposal or nothing,” Schumer reportedly said. And that is of course unacceptable. That leads to non-payment.’

However, McCarthy has insisted that everyone continues to underestimate him.

Late last month, he successfully passed the Save, Limit and Grow Act, which would raise the $31 trillion debt ceiling in exchange for government spending cuts.

It raises the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion in exchange for saving $4.5 trillion by capping spending in 2024 at fiscal year 2022 levels. It will also limit growth to 1 percent per year.

“With the president still not negotiating, I’m confident that one party put the debt ceiling in place. We raised the debt ceiling so no one has to worry about whether the debt ceiling will be lifted,” the speaker said. ‘We did. The Democrats don’t. The president wants to ensure that the debt ceiling is lifted, sign this bill.”

With the passage of the House bill, it appears that Republicans have no plans to withdraw and reverse a Democrat-led clean bill anytime soon.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has expressed strong support for the House Republicans’ plan and plans to take a sideline in future negotiations.

In addition, the standoff between President Biden and the Republicans has turned ugly as both sides blame the other for not committing to default.

R-Texas Senator Ted Cruz said Wednesday that Biden will not negotiate the debt ceiling because “his mental faculties are now too small to do what he did in 2011, to sit down and actually work together on a solution to the issues.’

R-Texas Senator John Cornyn tweeted Friday morning that Biden is “out of time and apologies” for the debt ceiling.

“It is mind-boggling how stupid President Biden is about the #BidenBorderCrisis and the end of Title 42, and the threat to our fragile economy from his stubborn and irresponsible refusal to negotiate a debt limit resolution. He’s running out of time and excuses.’

Jeffries is working with liberal advocacy groups to strengthen Democratic support for clean law

The Treasury Department announced earlier this week that it now believes the nation will default as early as June 1.

sec. Janet Yellen wrote to Congress on Monday with the new standard date. Previously, the Congressional Budget Office had predicted that the country’s default timeline would be between July and September.

“In my January 13 letter, I noted that cash and extraordinary measures were unlikely to be exhausted before early June. After looking at recent federal tax revenues, our best guess is that we won’t be able to meet all government obligations by early June, and possibly as early as June 1,” Yellen wrote.

Just after Yellen’s letter was made public, it was revealed that President Biden called McCarthy’s team to set up a meeting on how to proceed with the country’s $31.4 trillion borrowing limit, three months after their last meeting.

On May 9, a meeting will take place with Biden and the congressional leaders of the ‘Big Four’ – Kevin McCarthy, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries.