House Financial Services Chairman Patrick McHenry Says US Won’t Default This Year – ‘Takeaway’

The US will not default on its debt this year, says Republican Congressman Patrick McHenry, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee; he’s trying to broker a deal between the White House and hardline conservatives to increase the government’s borrowing limit.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen wrote in a letter Thursday that the US has reached its $31.4 trillion debt ceiling set by Congress and payments to certain federal employee pension funds will be capped or suspended to buy time for Congress. Serious global economic consequences could arise in late spring if the limit is not raised.

Conservatives in Congress are seeking cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security in exchange for increased creditworthiness in the country. “The American people are fed up with this. They want accountability when it comes to spending their hard-earned money,” Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania told CBS News.

The White House is insisting that Congress act without spending cuts and has so far refused to negotiate.

White House spokesman Andrew Bates told CBS News: “Republicans in Congress continue to issue threat after threat to unnecessarily set our economy back in an unprecedented default that will cost millions of Americans their jobs and pension funds and sink countless businesses.” “.

Chairman McHenry wants to play peacemaker.

“I’m trying to bring people together and they all say very harsh things that make it almost unimaginable that you can come to an agreement. But we must come to an agreement. And I don’t care how harsh the rhetoric is. We have to solve the problem of the state of the economy and the state of the world economy,” McHenry said.

The North Carolina Republican wants to separate the debt ceiling debate from the fiscal solvency talk, which goes against the right wing of his party. “My position of separating the two is not the prevailing view among Republicans in the House of Representatives. I’m trying to defend the ground here so that we can deal with the situation. I try to solve problems the way they are, not the way I want them to be,” McHenry told Major Garrett on this week’s episode of The Takeout.

Raising the debt ceiling is “a necessary part of governance,” McHenry said, and he would like to see both sides of the debate moving towards each other. McHenry is willing to accept a deal that extends the debt limit to a specific date or dollar amount.

House Conservatives are buoyed by a speaker election in which Kevin McCarthy won the gavel on the 15th ballot after being publicly rebuked throughout the day by members of his own party.

“Usually the goal in politics and in life is to endure humiliation in private and not in public. But we did it publicly, as Republicans in the House of Representatives,” said McHenry, who was integral to helping McCarthy get the votes he needed.

McHenry thought McCarthy’s proposal was doomed on the last day of voting when a Republican said earlier in the day that he could not support McCarthy. “I walked away from the conversation and thought it was over and I thought it was over because of what I did.”

Voting dragged on all night, until the next morning. The Florida congressman asked that the House be closed for the weekend after a dramatic setback in the 14th round to elect McCarthy, who fell short of the single vote of Rep. Matt Goetz. McHenry, knowing he needed Gaetz to change his vote, granted the request to reschedule the meeting. “When I decided to adjourn that day, it was the worst feeling I’ve ever had in the entire battle for the speaker’s seat,” McHenry said. “At that moment, I thought that I had effectively robbed my friend of the chance to become Speaker of the House of Representatives.”

But his feelings were short-lived. Ultimately, the House of Representatives remained in session and on the next ballot, although Gatz again voted “present”, the ultimate difference was that the other two dissenters also changed their votes to “present”. This lowered the threshold required to form a majority and propelled McCarthy to first seat in the House of Representatives. “It was a hell of a feeling and it was the biggest roller coaster I’ve had on a floor of the House in no time at all.”

Scott McFarlane contributed reporting.

Executive Producer: Arden Farhi

Producers: Jamie Benson, Jacob Rosen, Sarah Cook and Eleanor Watson.

CBSN production: Eric Susanin Show email: [email protected]: @TakeoutPodcastInstagram: @TakeoutPodcastFacebook: Facebook.com/TakeoutPodcast

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