White House Rejects Speaker McCarthy's Call For Debt Ceiling Negotiations

White House Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton has indicated to reporters that President Biden will continue to decline to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for debt limit negotiations until House Republicans release a FY24 budget.

• Dalton: "We've seen the letter, but where's the budget? The President released his budget three weeks ago... So far all we've seen from Speaker McCarthy and 'MAGA' Republicans in Congress are proposals which will... do nothing to address the deficit." (See bullet at 14:36 BST)
• Dalton: "The President has been asking to see what the Republican budget looks like and all we've seen are these proposal from the House Freedom Caucus."
• Q Is the condition for the President to meet with Speaker McCarthy that they produce the budget? A: "The President has laid out his budget and he thinks the Republicans should lay out their budget too."
• Dalton: "I would just say once again... this is a constitutional obligation that Congress has, to address the debt ceiling."