![CNN's Poppy Harlow pushed back against Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff on Thursday, asking whether the White House and Democrats are to blame for the debt ceiling negotiations. [Screenshot CNN]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Screenshot-2023-05-04-at-11.03.51-AM-e1683212690650.png "CNN's Poppy Harlow pushed back against Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff on Thursday, asking whether the White House and Democrats are to blame for the debt ceiling negotiations. [Screenshot CNN]")
CNN’s Poppy Harlow pushed back against Democratic California Rep. Adam Schiff on Thursday, asking whether the White House and Democrats are to blame for the debt ceiling negotiations.
Republicans passed a bill that would raise the debt ceiling to prevent a default while also cutting spending and enacting reforms. President Joe Biden and the Democrats have rejected the proposal, instead arguing for a clean, unconditional debt increase. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is slated to meet with Biden on May 9 to discuss the issue.
Schiff said he believes that Republicans are in the wrong.
“I think the president is absolutely right. You can’t negotiate with people taking the whole economy hostage. If you do, then we’re just going to go through this each and every year, every six months,” Schiff said. “We’re doing the responsible thing … we’re ready to put up our votes to raise the debt ceiling.”
“I understand you think the White House is right here and that Republicans are acting recklessly with this and they did raise the debt ceiling under Trump multiple times,” co-host Kaitlan Collins said, before asking whether the White House position was “sustainable” to keep bucking negotiations with a GOP majority.
As Schiff began to say it is sustainable, one of the hosts could be heard saying off-screen “how?”
Schiff said while it’s ok to have “conversations” about balancing the budget “we shouldn’t have them threatening to destroy the American economy.”
“You just can’t risk economic catastrophe because you can’t get your way in other ways. You just can’t operate that way,” Schiff said.
“Couldn’t you also say that the White House is risking it?” co-host Poppy Harlow asked. (RELATED: ‘Would It Kill You To Just Do Something?’: CNBC Host Tears Into Dem Over Refusal To Negotiate With Republicans On Debt)
“No, because the White House is doing what presidents of both parties have done, which is to say this is not what we negotiate. America pays its bills. That is non-negotiable.”