White House: Biden Won’t Negotiate on Debt Limit Like He Did in 2011 Because Brinksmanship Is Harmful

During a portion of an interview with NPR released on Thursday, White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients stated that President Joe Biden won’t negotiate over spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling with Republicans in Congress like Biden did when he was part of the Obama administration in 2011 because “brinksmanship” “had major impacts on the economy, on families across the country. And we’re not doing that again.”

While speaking on “All Things Considered,” NPR White House Correspondent Asma Khalid stated, “I asked Jeff Zients, the White House Chief of Staff, why have you all been so unwilling to negotiate here? Because during the debt limit crisis in 2011, the Obama White House did negotiate with congressional Republicans and spending cuts were part of the conversation.”

She then played a clip of Zients saying, “If you’re going back a decade, I think the lesson learned was that playing brinksmanship with the full faith and credit…of our country and getting close to a period of default had major impacts on the economy, on families across the country. And we’re not doing that again.”

Zients also stated, “I think the off-ramp’s very clear. It’s the same off-ramp that was taken with no drama…when President Trump was in the White House, take default off the table, like we have every time. Don’t play games with the full faith and credit of the United States. It’s unacceptable. It’s not up for negotiation. And then have the separate discussion around different visions for the future of the country and budgets.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett