Democrats have been blasting Joe Biden as the president appears to be botching negotiations with Republicans regarding the possibility of raising the debt ceiling.
Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) have yet to reach an agreement on raising the debt ceiling, despite ongoing talks.
However, McCarthy did indicate on Friday that the two sides had made some progress.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had set a deadline of June 1 to strike a deal before mandatory spending cuts would take effect.
On Friday, Yellen extended that deadline to June 6, giving negotiators a few more days of breathing room.
But Biden appears to be failing to make his case to the American people, giving McCarthy an edge in negotiations.
A recent Fox News poll of registered voters showed that 47 percent would blame the president if debt ceiling talks derailed.
44 percent, meanwhile, said they would blame the GOP.
A recent CNN poll found that 60% of Americans believed cuts to spending should be part of a debt ceiling deal.
Biden wants to raise the debt ceiling without spending cuts while Republicans are negotiating for the White House to make cutbacks.
Democrats are pushing Biden to be more aggressive about making the White House’s case to the public.
“It’s time to bring the president off the bench or bring somebody off the bench,” one House Democrat, speaking anonymously, reportedly told Politico.
“No one’s responding to anything.
“Kevin’s consistently on message.
“We have the Oval Office.
“I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Radical Democrat Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) chose to go public with her criticisms of Biden, however.
DeLauro declared that Biden has lost the messaging battle to McCarthy.
“The scale of the cuts is staggering, which really the public knows very little about,” she told Politico of the Republican bill.
“The president should be out there.”
Last month, the Republican bill, which would cap discretionary spending at 2022 levels, passed in the House.
The bill would limit spending increases to 1% a year for the next decade.
Biden is also facing backlash from progressives who say the president should not be involved in negotiations at all.
A group of progressive lawmakers is pushing the president to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling using the 14th Amendment.
The move is a legally dubious strategy that would almost certainly face a court challenge.
“I’m very frustrated,” Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) told CNN on Thursday.
“You know, I called on the president to invoke the 14th Amendment and mint a coin and do not negotiate with hostage takers.
“I mean, we don’t negotiate with terrorists globally.
“Why are we going to negotiate with the economic terrorists here that are the Republican Party?”
WATCH:
Jamaal Bowman: "We don't negotiate with terrorists globally, why are we gonna negotiate with the economic terrorists here that are the Republican Party?" pic.twitter.com/HTU8VwdDul
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 25, 2023
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), the Progressive Caucus chair, warned that a “bad deal” cut with Republicans could impact Biden’s reelection chances.
“The president — I’m sure he’s thinking about the fact that it was a very vibrant, diverse coalition that put them in the White House, and he’s going to need that vibrant, diverse coalition again for 2024,” she said.
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