Former President Donald Trump’s White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told Newsmax Monday that negotiations on the debt ceiling are just “happy talk” because Democrats just want to “spend your money.”
“They're talking about how they may have made progress today at the White House with Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden,” Meadows said during “Rob Schmitt Tonight” Monday. “I'm telling you that's happy talk. They're not making progress because [Democrats] want to spend your money.”
McCarthy, R-Calif., emerged from a meeting with Biden Monday saying that they could break the partisan impasse stopping the increase in the debt ceiling, allowing the government not to default on its obligations when the June 1 deadline comes, The New York Times reported.
“We don’t have an agreement yet,” the Times reported McCarthy telling reporters at the White House after the meeting. “But I did feel like the discussion was productive. I believe we can still get there. I believe we can get it done.”
Prior to the start of the meeting in the Oval Office, Biden also expressed optimism that the limit could be increased before the looming deadline.
“We still have some disagreements, but I think we may be able to get where we have to go,” Biden said as the two sat down in the Oval Office, according to the Times. “We both know we have a significant responsibility.”
Following the meeting, Biden said the negotiations were “productive,” and would continue.
“We reiterated once again that default is off the table and the only way to move forward is in good faith toward a bipartisan agreement,” he said in the report.
Meadows said that the Democrats are currently funding some $441 million to help illegal migrants avoid deportation and spending another $680 billion on “green” initiatives that could pay the salaries of the entire military for four years.
Former Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., joining Meadows on the broadcast, said that he is concerned that as the deadline for default gets closer, you could see a “waver” among Republicans in the House and Senate to give in to some Democratic demands.
“This is going to lead it right up to the to the end. It does concern me,” he said. “The closer it gets to the end, you might see wavering, and I think that's what's going to happen here.”
Collins said the GOP has to stick together to get the reforms they want in the process and then go about the work of trimming federal spending.
“They've got to get to work on the appropriations packages and start trimming those,” Collins said. “That's where they got to start. McCarthy’s got to lay down the hammer on this. It would be a huge win. We all know it's needed. They try to scare us so you can shut down the economy. It's like we're $32 trillion in debt. When do we get real about this?”
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