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WASHINGTON − President Joe Biden pushed back Wednesday at new work requirements for welfare programs that Republicans covet in a package to raise the debt ceiling, insisting that any changes he supports would be insignificant yet not taking the issue off the table entirely.
Expanded work requirements for recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and Medicaid have emerged as a key sticking point in debt-ceiling talks between the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
“I’m not going to accept any work requirements that’s going to impact the medical health needs of people,” Biden said in remarks from the White House Roosevelt Room before he departed to Japan for a G-7 summit. He added that he would not accept any expanded work requirements “that go much beyond” the rules that he supported as a U.S. senator in the 1990s.
“It’s possible there could be a few, but not anything of consequence,” Biden said.
Top House Democrat calls work requirements a ‘nonstarter’
Biden’s careful posturing follows a backlash from congressional Democrats who raised alarm about the possibility of caving to Republicans’ push to expand work requirements for welfare programs that serve low-income Americans.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, in an interview Wednesday on CNBC, called expanded work requirements a “nonstarter,” noting that 145 Republican House members joined Democrats to oppose a similar proposal in 2018. He said there are already “significant work requirements” under existing federal law.
In remarks to reporters Sunday, Biden said he wouldn’t entertain any new requirements for recipients of Medicaid. The White House made clear Wednesday that Biden will also work to prevent eligibility changes to other federal aid programs.
“The policies House Republicans are proposing would take away Americans’ health care and increase poverty,” Michael Kikukawa, a White House spokesman, said in a statement to USA TODAY. “Republicans couldn’t pass them into law when they had unified control of government − and the president is fighting to ensure they will not be in a bipartisan budget agreement.”
Biden met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other congressional leaders Tuesday at the White House as they look to strike a deal to raise the debt ceiling to avert a government default as early as June 1, when the U.S. is projected to run out of money to pay its bills.
The parties appeared to make some progress, with Biden assigning three White House officials to begin more advanced negotiations on a package. McCarthy said the two sides still remain far part as Republicans look to use the debt ceiling for substantial budget cuts.
“To be clear, this negotiation is about the outlines of what the budget will look like, not about whether or not we’re going to, in fact, pay our debts,” Biden said. “Leaders all agree we will not default.”
Biden said he’s confident the White House will reach an agreement with Congress to raise the debt limit and the U.S. will not default, adding that both sides recognize the “consequences if we fail to pay our bills. It would be catastrophic to the American economy.”
More:Debt ceiling battle: Does it matter to your 401(k)? Some are hedging their bets
McCarthy: tougher work requirements would ‘lift people out of poverty’
McCarthy-backed legislation to tie $4.5 trillion in cuts to raising the debt ceiling would expand work requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, which provides monthly food benefits to about 40 million low-income Americans each month.
McCarthy, in remarks to reporters Tuesday, stressed that Republicans simply want to expand work requirements for federal aid that Biden voted for in the 1990s when he was in the Senate.
“It lifts people out of the poverty, puts them into jobs,” McCarthy said.
The speaker’s bill, which passed the Republican-controlled House by a 217-215 vote, would make able-bodied adults without dependent children subject to work requirements to receive SNAP benefits until they’re 55 years old, up from 49.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated the higher threshold would mean a loss of SNAP benefits for 275,000 Americans and savings of $11 billion.
The bill would also make it harder for states to exempt its residents from work and job training requirements to receive SNAP benefits. Republicans have also proposed less flexibility for states to administer the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and a requirement that Medicaid recipients participate in working-related activities at least 80 hours a month.
More:Last-minute deal on debt ceiling could still spark recession even if US avoids default
Reach Joey Garrison on @joeygarrison.
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