Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen acknowledged the “very big gap” between Democrats and Republicans in an interview Monday with CNBC.
It's part of a broader campaign by Biden to try to paint the Republican cuts as draconian. Aides believe that message both strengthens his position in talks with the GOP and boosts his nascent 2024 reelection effort. His Wednesday visit will be to a congressional district won by Biden in 2020, but that is now represented by a Republican, Rep. Mike Lawler.
McCarthy, R-Calif., has staked his speakership on extracting some concessions from Biden in exchange for raising the borrowing limit, with some of his members insisting they would withhold their votes on a debt measure unless all of their proposals made the final legislation. Biden's refusal to negotiate on the debt limit is informed by his first-hand experience in 2011, when he was Barack Obama's vice president and the administration made painful concessions to Republicans in an effort to avoid default. Biden has told aides it's an experience he refuses to repeat, not just for himself, but for future presidents.