The American debt ceiling crisis... The exchange of criticism between the White House and the Republicans

The administration of US President Joe Biden and the Republicans in Congress exchanged harsh criticism, on Saturday, regarding raising the federal debt ceiling of $ 31.4 trillion, as each side described the other's proposals as exaggerated, while Biden said that he would not agree to an agreement on the Republicans' terms alone.

The officials did not meet after two meetings ended on Friday without announcing any progress, and negotiators said they were unsure when a new round of talks between the two sides could take place.

Market chaos fears

There is less than two weeks left until June 1, when the Treasury Department warned that the federal government might not be able to pay all its debts by then.

This could lead to a debt default that would cause chaos in the financial markets, and raise interest rates.

White House spokeswoman Karen Jean-Pierre indicated - in a statement - that Biden and McCarthy agreed that any agreement on the budget must be approved by both parties, accusing the Republicans of submitting proposals that could not be approved by Congress.

"Let's get serious about what can be bipartisan, reach the office of the president and reduce the deficit," Jean-Pierre said.

A statement said yesterday evening that the president's team is ready to meet at any time. And Biden says he still believes default can be avoided.

Earlier Saturday, McCarthy told congressional reporters that he did not think the talks could move forward before Biden returns home from the G7 meeting in Japan.

Accusing the Democrats of taking a very extreme stance on the left, McCarthy said, "Unfortunately, the White House has taken steps backwards."

He added that the "socialist wing" of the Democratic Party appears to be in control.

Meanwhile, Biden said on Sunday that he would not agree to an agreement with congressional Republicans on raising the debt ceiling and cutting the budget on their terms alone.

Speaking at a news conference in Hiroshima, Japan, Biden said he would talk to McCarthy during the trip home about negotiations, but stressed that US default was not an option.

"It is time for Republicans to accept that there will be no bipartisan deal based solely on their terms," Biden said.

A White House official said Biden had asked his team to make an appointment later in the day to speak by phone with McCarthy about the debt ceiling crisis.

Cut spending

The House of Representatives - headed by Republican McCarthy - passed legislation last month that would cut a large part of government spending by 8% next year.

Democrats say that would force cuts of at least 22% on average in programs such as education and law enforcement, a figure not contested by senior Republicans.

Republicans hold a narrow majority of seats in the House of Representatives, while Democrats, to whom Biden belongs, have limited control of the Senate, so no agreement can be passed without bipartisan support.

A source familiar with the negotiations said Republicans have proposed increasing defense spending while cutting public spending, and added that House Republicans want to extend tax cuts approved by former Republican President Donald Trump, which would add $3.5 trillion to the federal debt.

The source said the Biden administration has proposed keeping non-defense discretionary spending flat for next year, which would cut spending when adjusted for inflation.

Republicans are pushing for sharp spending cuts in many domestic programs in exchange for an increase in the government's self-imposed borrowing limit, which is regularly required to cover spending costs and tax cuts previously approved by lawmakers.

Congressional Republicans agreed to raise the debt ceiling three times, with no preconditions for budget cuts, while Trump was in the White House.

A Corrupt policy

Meanwhile, a report in the American magazine “The New Yorker” says that President Biden and the Republicans in Congress have been walking on a hot plate for months because of the Republican Party’s refusal to raise the debt ceiling without the Democrats making major concessions on federal spending.

And the report adds: For the rest of the world, this old renewed conflict between the camp of Democrats and Republicans was only a sign of severe dysfunction in Washington, and a reminder that "corrupt American politics constitutes a geopolitical crisis as well as a domestic crisis."

The report believes that the Republicans may have been forced to comply and agree to raise the debt ceiling without setting external conditions, or they will bear responsibility for the default and the resulting political consequences, according to the accusations of the Democrats.

The report indicates Democrats' concern that the White House will eventually agree to Republican demands that include strict budget limits, work requirements on federal assistance to the poor, and a rollback of key provisions in Biden's legislation and the inflation-reducing law.

He concludes by saying that the disintegration of the superpower's credibility does not occur in an instant, but rather over time and as a result of repeated crises, as the crises that the country suffers from are often caused by itself without mitigating the extent of its damage.