Democratic congressman says Biden not negotiating on debt ceiling puts party in 'weaker position'
Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, said Tuesday that President Biden's lack of negotiation on the debt has put Democrats in a "weaker position."
Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, told NBC's "Meet the Press Now" on Tuesday that he had been "disappointed" by President Biden's handling of the debt ceiling negotiations up until last week and said it put Democrats in a "weaker position."
"We’d be in a stronger negotiating position right now if we had led the charge in saying, let’s sit down and negotiate about this starting now back in February," Golden said.
Host Garrett Haake asked Golden if he was "satisfied" with the "urgency" the Biden White House and Democratic leadership have taken in approaching debt negotiations.
"I’ve been disappointed with the way they’ve handled it up until the last week," he said, adding that he wrote a letter to Biden on Feb. 1 saying Democrats needed to negotiate.
Rep. Jared Golden joined "Meet the Press Now" on Tuesday to discuss debt negotiations. (Screenshot/NBC/MeetThePressNow)
Golden added that he put out a proposal with ideas on how to kick-start talks in early April.
"Just a few weeks ago, when Speaker McCarthy put their bill on the floor the very first statement I made after that vote, joined by Congresswoman Perez and Congresswoman Peltola, three Democrats from rural areas, from districts that Donald Trump won in previous elections, we said, it’s time to sit down and commence these talks. So it’s good to see the progress that's taking place now, of course, as urgency as we’re running up against a potential deadline," he said.
The Democratic lawmaker added that "it didn't have to be this way."
Haake also asked Golden about the current focus on work requirements and where he stood.
President Joe Biden rejected the idea of Medicaid work requirements in the Republican debt ceiling plan on Wednesday. ((Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images))
"To date, I've been focused on the process and a desire to get Democratic leadership to acknowledge what was going to happen, and how can we position ourselves for these negotiations from the strongest position possible on. Like I said, I think we’re in a weaker position, because the no negotiating stance was not tenable. And now we’re in it. That’s splitting hairs, whether we’re negotiating on the debt ceiling or not, I think everyone knows what is going on," he said.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Monday that he was not optimistic about the negotiations and added that there's been "no movement."
"I appreciate the president finally willing to talk after 97 days," the speaker said. "But, there is no movement."
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., talks to reporters just after the Republican majority in the House narrowly passed a sweeping debt ceiling package as they try to push President Joe Biden into negotiations on federal spending, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, April 26, 2023. ((AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite))
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Biden said Wednesday that he will not accept any of the Medicaid work requirements in the Republican debt ceiling plan.
"I'm not going to accept any work requirements that's going to impact on medical health needs of people," Biden told reporters. "I'm not going to accept any work requirements that go much beyond what is already – well, I voted years ago for the work requirements that exist, but it's possible there could be a few others, but not anything of any consequence."
Fox News' Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
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