The top Republican in the House of Representatives warned President Barack Obama over the weekend that he’s ready to let the United States default — and that the White House is to blame.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told ABC’s “This Week” on
Sunday that Republicans in his chamber would not immediately
honor the White House’s request to raise the US debt ceiling,
setting the stage for what would be the first ever federal
default in the history of the country.
Answering whether he thinks a default is imminent, Boehner said,
“That's the path we're on."
Boehner warned that Obama was "risking default by not having a
conversation with us."
US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told Fox News that defaulting on
the country’s debt would be both “irresponsible” and
“reckless.”
The Obama administration has urged Congress to raise the US debt
ceiling, essentially increasing the amount of money that the US
Treasury can borrow from other nations. Should the ceiling not be
raised ahead of an October 17 deadline, however, the US is
expected to default and likely damage further its reputation
within the international community.
The Republican refusal to increase the debt ceiling in Congress
comes amid a government shutdown expected to enter its second
week on Tuesday. The reluctance of the GOP to approve a budget
that includes President Obama’s hallmark Affordable Care Act
turned chaotic last Tuesday when a 12 a.m. deadline came and went
without a compromise.
Again, Republicans insist that catastrophe could be averted if
the White House agrees to discuss its spending habits with
Congress and perhaps reach a compromise ahead of the looming Oct.
17 deadline.
"The nation's credit is at risk because of the administration's
refusal to sit down and have a conversation," Boehner told
ABC's "This Week.”
According to Boehner, House Republicans are not interested in
approving any "clean" debt limit bill. Instead, the speaker says
the White House should engage in a conversation that could yield
a compromise between both parties.
“I told the president, there’s no way we’re going to pass one.
The votes are not in the House to pass a clean debt limit,”
Boehner said. “And the President is risking default by not
having a conversation with us.”
"I don't want the United States to default on its debt,"
Boehner said. "But I'm not going to raise the debt limit
without a serious conversation about dealing with problems that
are driving the debt up. It would be irresponsible of me to do
this."
“He knows what my phone number is. All he has to do is
call,” added Boehner.
As House Republicans and the White House remain locked in
stalemate, figures on both the right and left largely agree a
default would only worsen matters.
“On the seventeenth we run out of our ability to borrow, and
Congress is playing with fire," Lew, the treasurer, told CNN
this week.
On Monday morning, National Economic Council Director Gene
Sperling suggested that the White House may come up with a
compromise that would call for a shot-term increase of debt
ceiling in order to save the country from default.
At an event in Washington on Monday, Sperling told ABC reporter
John Karl that a short-term deal wasn’t off the table.
"I think longer is better for economic certainty and jobs, but
it is ultimately up to them," Sperling said of Congress.