Senate Democrat urges McCarthy to put ‘pin back in grenade’ on debt talks

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) is urging Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to “put the pin back in the hand grenade” when it comes to talks about the national debt ceiling amid the threat of default. 

“I think the problem right now is that we have a McCarthy-manufactured crisis, a MAGA-manufactured crisis. There is only one person in the congressional leadership and the president, the big five, who wants to default. And is threatening to default. And that’s speaker McCarthy,” Whitehouse said Saturday on MSNBC’s “Symone.” 

“So, the best thing would be for him to back off that threat and let the process of American government [proceed]. He controls the appropriations committee in the House, we do in the Senate, we work together, and we go through ordinary committee transparent processes. Put the pin back in the hand grenade and stop this,” the senator added. 

The U.S. exceeded its borrowing limit earlier this year, and the Treasury Department has warned that it could run out of ways to stave off default by as soon as June 1, adding to the urgency of negotiations between Congress and the White House. Officials have warned that a default could be catastrophic to the economy, but progress between President Biden and McCarthy has been slow.

Whitehouse, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, is among a number of Democrats calling for President Biden to invoke the 14th Amendment to unilaterally address the debt ceiling without waiting for Congress to act. 

“When you are looking at default, and you are looking at the global economic consequences of it, that may make Speaker McCarthy come to his senses and take the hand grenade off the table. These are things even people who are adversaries can negotiate in good faith,” Whitehouse said. 

“But it’s not good faith to come in with threats. It’s not good faith to come in without a negotiating position. It’s not good faith to use the debt limit hand grenade to try to extort things even if your own people don’t want to support.”

The White House has said it wants a “clean” debt limit increase, while McCarthy is pushing for spending cuts.

At a news conference in Japan on Sunday, Biden said he believes he has the authority to use the 14th Amendment to unilaterally address the debt ceiling. He acknowledged, however, that potential legal challenges could still lead the nation to default if he takes that action.

Updated at 7:40 a.m.