Biden Opens Door for Work Requirements

President Biden “signaled openness this morning to including new work requirements for social safety-net programs in the debt-limit compromise, bucking House Democrats who have said this is a non-starter for them,” Punchbowl News reports.

“Now, what Biden appears to be saying is that he may give Republicans a modest win on work requirements — potentially on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families — satisfying their desire to take a whack at social safety-net programs. But Biden does not appear open to a large-scale rewrite of work requirements as part of this bill. Speaker Kevin McCarthy has said that the debt-limit bill needs to include work-requirement language and that this is a red line for him.”

Politico: “Biden’s willingness to speak openly about support for modest measures that Democrats traditionally oppose signals that negotiations are narrowing in on specific policies and that the White House is comfortable with some concessions.”