Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden’s chief economic adviser Rael Brainard said Thursday that a U.S. debt default would plunge the economy into recession.
In a conference call with Democratic activists, he asked them to contact lawmakers to express their opposition to a possible default in the next two weeks.
Brainard, chairman of the White House National Economic Council, said Mr Biden’s negotiating team was instructed not to agree to any proposal by Republicans to raise the debt ceiling that would deprive Americans of health care and push them into poverty.
Republicans, who have threatened to let the government default, are trying to persuade Democrats to accept tougher work requirements for some federal aid programs in exchange for removing borrowing caps.
“A default could trigger a recession,” Harris said.
Brainard said the Biden administration’s goal in talks with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s team is to work toward a reasonable bipartisan budget deal.
“The administration’s negotiating team is battling extreme attempts to reverse progress made to create clean energy jobs, fight climate change, cut costs for students and middle-class households, including drugs such as insulin. there is,” he said.
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