McCarthy Renews Calls for Spending Cuts to Raise Debt Ceiling

White House insists on raising limit without conditions, teeing up possible standoff in Washington

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said Sunday he would seek to negotiate with President Biden over raising the federal debt ceiling but renewed his calls for cuts in spending, days after the Treasury Department said the government may not be able to pay its bills by early summer.

“Let’s sit down together. Let’s look at the places that we can change our behavior,” Mr. McCarthy said in an interview on Fox News. “Why would we sit back and be so arrogant to say, ‘No, there’s no waste in government?’”

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday called on Congress to raise the debt ceiling as quickly as possible. She said the government would hit the roughly $31.4 trillion borrowing limit on Jan. 19, when Treasury will begin implementing so-called extraordinary measures to manage the government’s cash flow that are expected to last at least until early June.

Republicans, who recently took control of the House, have insisted that any increase of the debt limit include cuts in spending, a demand that many Democrats reject. The White House has called on Congress to raise the debt ceiling without conditions.

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