McCarthy to Meet with Biden

“President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy will meet one-on-one for the first time today. The White House has positioned this meeting as a relatively standard session, during which the leaders will discuss a range of topics,” Punchbowl News reports.

“McCarthy, however, sees this as a face-to-face with the president that will focus on two of his key legislative priorities this Congress – boosting the debt limit and cutting government spending.”

“To review, Biden says he won’t negotiate over the debt limit and believes it should be lifted without preconditions. Several senior White House aides tell us that even if Biden and McCarthy were to cut a deal, they’re skeptical McCarthy would have the support to pass it through the fractious House.”

Playbook: “The White House strategy, therefore, is patience. House Republicans are divided, and Biden’s team believes McCarthy is unlikely to craft a budget plan that can secure 218 votes given the internal contradictions within his conference among libertarians, defense hawks, and moderates representing Biden districts. McCarthy’s effort to do so will be wrenching and instructive, they believe, and will shape the contours of the debate as the debt ceiling deadline approaches in early summer.”