Biden threatens to veto House GOP plan to address debt limit

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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy proposes raising debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion

Fox News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram has the latest on House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's plans to raise the debt ceiling and trim government spending. 

President Biden is threatening to veto House Republicans’ "extreme" bill to address the debt limit, warning GOP lawmakers their measure could cause a recession and urging them to "take default off the table."

"The Congress has a solemn obligation to prevent default and ensure that the United States meets its obligations," the statement of administration policy said. "The Administration strongly opposes the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023, which is a reckless attempt to extract extreme concessions as a condition for the United States simply paying the bills it has already incurred." 

US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (L), Republican of California, and US President Joe Biden attend the annual Friends of Ireland luncheon on St. Patrick's Day at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 17, 2023. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images) (ANDREW CABALLERO/AFP via Getty)

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"The President has been clear that he will not accept such attempts at hostage-taking," the statement reads. "House Republicans must take default off the table and address the debt limit without demands and conditions, just as the Congress did three times during the prior administration." 

The White House accused House Republicans of proposing an "irresponsible" measure that would have "hard-working Americans" "shoulder the burden of devastating cuts, while doing nothing to ensure that wealthy or large corporations pay their fair share." 

The White House said the bill would "force severe cuts" to education, food safety inspections, rail safety, health research, public safety, border security and veteran’s medical care, while also repealing Biden’s "one-time student debt-relief plan."

"Altogether, this legislation would not only risk default, recession, widespread job loss, and years of higher interest rates, but also make devastating cuts to programs that hard-working Americans and the middle-class count on," the statement reads.

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The bill "stands in stark contrast to the President’s vision for the economy," adding that Biden’s budget "invests in America, lowers costs for families, grows the economy, and reduces the deficit by nearly $3 trillion by asking the wealthy and large corporations to pay their fair share," the White House said.

"Therefore, if the president were presented with the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023, he would veto it," the statement read.

The bill aims to raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion or until the end of March 2024, while also capping discretionary government spending at fiscal 2022 levels.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., over the weekend, said House Republicans are "the only ones in Washington that are actually putting a responsible plan out that will raise the debt limit." 

"Think about it; for more than 80 days it's been since I sat down with the president on February 1st to negotiate, to work through this, and he's ignored it," McCarthy said. 

Republicans plan to vote on the measure Wednesday, sources said. The bill needs 218 votes to pass the House. If passed, the bill will head to the Senate for a vote. Senate Republicans have spoken favorably about the bill. 

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"It's not where everybody gets 100% of what they want, but when we send this to the Senate, we're showing that, yes, we're able to raise the debt ceiling into the next year," McCarthy said. "What we're doing is we're being responsible fiscally and bringing our house back in order." 

He added: "It doesn't solve all of our problems, but it gets us on the right path and this gets us to the negotiating table, just as government and America expect us to do.