Schumer seeks to drive wedge in GOP: McCarthy was ‘lone holdout’ on default

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was the “lone holdout” on taking a potential federal default off the table at a meeting with President Biden and congressional leaders at the White House. 

Schumer made the claim on the Senate floor in an attempt to drive a wedge between McCarthy and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who pledged after Tuesday’s meeting that the United States will not default.  

“Speaker McCarthy refused, absolutely refused, to take default off the table,” Schumer said. “He was the only holdout during yesterday’s meeting.  

“President Biden said that no matter what, default should be taken off the table,” Schumer added, noting that he and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) also pledged not to allow a default.  

“Even Leader McConnell said, unequivocally, no matter what, the U.S. will not default. But McCarthy, Speaker McCarthy alone, refused to take the threat of a catastrophic default off the table,” Schumer said. “I asked him pointedly, I asked him pointedly if he would join us, but during yesterday’s meeting he was the sole holdout.”  

McConnell told reporters outside the White House that “the United States is not going to default, it never has and it never will.”  

But the Senate GOP leader argued that “elections have consequences” and “we now have divided government,” and that Biden will need to agree to fiscal reforms to get Republican support to raise the debt ceiling.  

“The solution to this problem lies with two people: the president of the United States, who can sign a bill and deliver the members of his party to vote for it, and the Speaker of the House. There is no sentiment in the Senate, certainly not 60 votes, for a clean debt ceiling,” McConnell said. 

“So there must be an agreement, and the sooner the president and the Speaker can reach an agreement, the sooner we can solve the problem,” he said.  

McCarthy told reporters that the president and congressional leaders made little progress at Tuesday’s meeting.  

“Everybody in this meeting reiterated the positions they were at. I didn’t see any new movement,” he said.