A House Democrat reportedly expressed disbelief upon learning that President Joe Biden would be headed to his home state of Delaware for the Memorial Day weekend despite the debt ceiling fight.
According to a recent report from Politico, Democrats have grown frustrated with Biden for taking what they felt was too much of a hands-off approach when dealing with the debt ceiling fight, with some even expressing disbelief at the thought of him leaving for the weekend.
“It’s time to bring the president off the bench or bring somebody off the bench. No one’s responding to anything. Kevin [McCarthy’s] consistently on message,” said one House Democrat. “We have the Oval Office. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“They need to use the power of the presidency. I don’t buy this argument that [public silence] helps the negotiation,” said Congressional Black Caucus Chair Steven Horsford (D-NV). “I need the American people to know that Democrats are here fighting, working, prepared to reach an agreement to avoid a default and only the White House, the president, can explain that in this moment.”
Upon hearing that Biden would be away for the weekend, one Democrat lawmaker outright called it “stupid.”
“Please tell me that’s not true,” said the lawmaker. “You’re going to see a caucus that’s so pissed if he’s stupid enough to do that.”
KJP melted down when she got this question yesterday in the press briefing
— Rob Casapulla (@RobCasapulla) May 25, 2023
The president’s aloofness has angered more than his fair share of Democrats and other allies. Earlier this month, the Washington Post outright called his decline to conduct press conferences unacceptable.
The Washington Post editorial board wrote:
President Biden hasn’t dropped the microphone; he appears to have lost it. Mr. Biden is turning into a news media evader, and it’s harmful to his presidency and the nation. In the past 100 years, only Presidents Richard M. Nixon and Ronald Reagan averaged fewer news conferences than Mr. Biden.
The editorial board further argued that the president’s stonewalling of the media goes against his promise for more transparency.
“The president and his team promised transparency. Instead, he is stonewalling the media,” the board wrote.
As Breitbart News reported on Thursday, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy held the line in negotiating with the White House and Democrats on raising the debt ceiling, demanding caps on spending and work requirements for social safety programs
“The White House attempted to float a freeze on spending at current levels per sources involved in the negotiations, but McCarthy rebuffed the administration’s proposal and is holding out seeking actual cuts to spending levels,” noted the report.
“While sources involved say they are unsure at this time exactly how much spending will be cut, some say it could be into the tens of or hundreds of billions of dollars of spending cuts, combined with caps on future years of discretionary non-military spending,” it added.
McCarthy has also reportedly insisted on cuts for President Joe Biden’s plans to bring on thousands of new IRS agents in his “Inflation Reduction Act.” Republicans have long expressed fear that such agents would not be used to extract more revenue from multi-millionaires and billionaires but to nickel-and-dime the middle class.
“We know where our differences lie. We worked well into past midnight last night. We’re back at it today trying to get to the conclusion,” McCarthy told reporters. “We need to have an agreement that is worthy of the American public.”
Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed on Tubi, Google Play, YouTube Movies, or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.
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