Rep. Jamaal Bowman questioned Thursday why President Joe Biden is negotiating over the debt ceiling with GOP lawmakers in the House, who Bowman said were “terrorists.”
Bowman, a Democrat from New York, is part of a group of progressive lawmakers who have called on Biden to unilaterally raise the debt limit under the 14th Amendment, a questionable use of authority that would almost certainly bring legal challenges.
“I’m very frustrated. You know, I called on the president to invoke the 14th Amendment and mint a coin and do not negotiate with hostage takers,” Bowman told CNN. “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?”
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
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has placed a deadline of June 1 on raising the debt ceiling or risk hitting it and having to make significant cuts to spending in order to pay the government’s bills.
Negotiators for the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) appeared to make progress on Thursday after negotiations stalled earlier this week. McCarthy was somewhat optimistic on Friday morning, though he noted more work still needs to be done for an agreement, according to CNBC.
“I thought we made progress last night. We’ve got to make more progress now,” McCarthy said.
Under the current negotiated framework, Republicans are set to win on two of the core components of their debt ceiling bill that the House passed last month. The White House has reportedly made concessions on reducing 2024 spending and cutting back on the roughly $80 billion in new funding allocated to the IRS in the Inflation Reduction Act, according to CNBC.
Biden has faced pressure from his left flank from lawmakers such as Bowman and others to stop negotiating with McCarthy. Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Progressive Caucus, warned Biden against negotiating a “bad deal” earlier this week.
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“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,” Jayapal said.
Democrats are concerned that McCarthy and Republicans may be beating the White House in messaging. A CNN poll released on Tuesday showed that 60% of Americans want spending cuts to be a part of a bill to raise the debt ceiling.