White House escalates war of words with GOP ahead of Biden-McCarthy debt limit meeting

Christian Datoc, White House Correspondent for The Washington Examiner

White House principal deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton prodded House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) Tuesday over his entitlements voting record, just one day before he and President Joe Biden are scheduled to meet and discuss a path forward to raising the debt limit.

Earlier in the day, the White House released a memo outlining two specific points Biden hoped to press the Republican leader on during the meeting. First, Biden wants McCarthy to commit to avoiding a U.S. default, and second, the president wants McCarthy to bring a detailed “fiscal plan” for reducing the deficit without cutting Social Security and Medicare, as some Republicans have proposed.