Biden must drop ‘absolutist’ position in debt ceiling talks with McCarthy, think tanks warn

Three Washington, D.C., think tanks are calling on President Biden to drop his "absolutist" position on debt limit talks ahead of his planned meeting with congressional leaders on Tuesday and agree to consider spending cuts as part of those discussions.

"The Vice President of the United States was correct, when he said in 2010, that ‘it’s in everyone’s interest politically to cooperate’ on raising the debt limit. In 2011, he criticized those ‘taking an absolutist position: my way or no way. That’s not governing. That’s no way to govern.’ Mr. President, you made those statements. We agree with them," the groups wrote in a letter to Biden.

"We now ask you – we urge you – to work in good faith with congressional members of both parties to raise the debt limit while improving the federal government’s budget outlook," wrote Americans For Prosperity, the National Taxpayers Union and America First Policy Institute.

Biden called Tuesday's meeting in an effort to resolve a weeks-long standoff over raising the government's borrowing limit. Republicans have refused to allow more borrowing unless it is tied to cuts that total roughly $150 billion in discretionary spending, while Democrats say Congress must pass a "clean" debt ceiling raise with no preconditions.