Biden says McCarthy faces choice between 'speakership and American interest' as shutdown nears

SAN FRANCISCO - With a government shutdown looming, President Joe Biden lashed out Wednesday at House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, accusing him of abandoning their deal to raise the debt ceiling and getting cornered by the right-flank of the Republican Party.

“The fact is that I think that the speaker is making a choice between the speakership and American interest," Biden said in remarks at a campaign fundraiser at the home of Tom Steyer, a billionaire businessman who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 2020.

McCarthy has been unable to find a path within his own caucus to pass a continuing resolution or budget in the Republican-controlled House that appeases hardline Republicans who have threatened ousting him as speaker if he cuts a deal with Democrats.

The deadline for congressional action is Sunday before the government shuts down.

Biden called a potential shutdown “disastrous" and pointed to the bipartisan package to suspend the nation's debt ceiling that overwhelming majorities in both chambers passed to avert a default in June. The deal included spending concessions that both Biden and McCarthy endorsed. Hard-right House Republicans now want 8% cuts to many federal services.

“We made a deal,” Biden said, stressing that he personally negotiated with the speaker to make sure the U.S. didn’t renege on debt. “Now they come along and say ... we didn’t mean it.”

A government shutdown would have major repercussions. That includes furloughing federal workers without pay, requiring "essential" federal workers to work without pay, halting funds for certain social-welfare programs and potentially closing national parks.

Biden, addressing a team of science and technology advisers earlier in the day, said a government shutdown would impact “vital work in science and health” including cancer research and food safety.

“The American people need our Republican friends in the House of Representatives to do their job: Fund the government," Biden said, while holding out hope a deal can be struck.

“I don’t think anything is inevitable in politics,” Biden said of a shutdown. But when asked he acknowledged he doesn't know how to avoid one. "If I knew that I would have done it already."

Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly known as Twitter, @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden: McCarthy faces choice of 'speakership and American interest'