![CNBC's Joe Kernen pushed back Tuesday against a White House advisor on why President Joe Biden won't come to the negotiation table with Republicans to raise the debt ceiling. [Screenshot CNBC]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Screenshot-2023-05-02-at-9.56.29-AM-e1683035874420.png "CNBC's Joe Kernen pushed back Tuesday against a White House advisor on why President Joe Biden won't come to the negotiation table with Republicans to raise the debt ceiling. [Screenshot CNBC]")
CNBC’s Joe Kernen pushed back Tuesday against a White House advisor on why President Joe Biden won’t come to the negotiation table with Republicans to raise the debt ceiling.
Republicans have put forward a proposal that would raise the debt ceiling to prevent a default, while also including spending cuts and reforms. Biden and the Democrats have rejected the proposal, instead arguing for a debt increase without conditions. McCarthy reportedly accepted an invite from Biden to meet on May 9 to discuss the debt limit ceiling.
Kernen argued that McCarthy was not holding the economy hostage and instead argued that it’s Democrats who aren’t willing to come to the table, citing two articles during the Trump administration in which former Speaker Nancy Pelosi demanded negotiations for a budget.
“It happens all the time, just to arbitrarily take 80 days and say, ‘I’m not going to do anything with the debt limit,’ there’s polls that say that the American people want the President to negotiate at this point. And you’re hoping, and I know you think that Republicans are going to be blamed and that’s sort of the – I guess that’s sort of the game plan, but I don’t think you can guarantee that. Because there’s a bill out there now, and if the President doesn’t negotiate now, the White House is going to have some of the default on its hands, as well, the blame.”
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“The president has been very clear on his economic priorities. He came out with a complete budget back in March,” Council of Economic Advisors Heather Boushey replied. “Speaker McCarthy said that was the first thing that he would do when he became speaker, and it took him quite a while to come up with this vision that is embodied in the legislation that you just referred to that the House passed.
“But the challenge in front of us is that we have very little time to deal with this debt ceiling increase. We do have more time to deal with the budget talks and appropriation talks, and let’s let those things happen in due course,” she continued.