On Friday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy accused President Joe Biden of ignoring the problem, even though Republicans have failed to identify spending cutbacks they seek before lifting the debt ceiling.

The Republican speaker criticized the Democratic president for not negotiating since a first meeting early last month during a Capitol press conference.

“Unfortunately the president doesn’t believe it’s essential,” McCarthy said when questioned about debt ceiling negotiations.

The nation faces a historic default without raising the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling.

Biden and senior Democrats in Congress have asked McCarthy to reveal Republicans’ spending-cutting proposals, warning more discussions would be pointless.

“House Republicans have long labeled crafting a budget a core role of government, even saying that if members of Congress don’t approve a budget, they shouldn’t get a paycheck,” said deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates in an email.

“President Biden has provided a comprehensive budget that cuts the deficit by $3 trillion over the next decade while continuing to invest in America, and House Republicans should do the same to actually understand how the numbers stack up.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters Thursday that Democrats welcome budget negotiations anytime. First, however, McCarthy “must reveal his strategy. Why sit without a plan? “Thanks for the coffee”?”

The Republican-controlled House Budget Committee has not yet developed a fiscal 2024 budget blueprint to affect the battle over government spending starting in October and raising the debt limit.

Republicans want Democrats to approve major expenditure cuts before voting to expand the Treasury Department’s borrowing power.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates the Treasury Department will exhaust “extraordinary measures” to maintain debt payments on schedule in July–September.

On Friday, the White House accused the hard-right House Freedom Caucus of proposing “devastating cutbacks” to the federal budget that would impair national security and burden working- and middle-class families.

They would cut Biden programs and return non-defense expenditures to pre-COVID-19 levels.