Both sides tried to frame the discussion favorably. Republicans attacked Democrats over the spending failure, pointing to the stimulus package Mr. Biden signed into law. They blame the spending for fueling rapid inflation last year, although price rises have moderated since then. Republican lawmakers say the current level of federal debt is unsustainable and threatens to undermine economic growth.
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Mr. Biden has often said he is willing to cut deficits by raising taxes on high-income earners and corporations — something Republicans oppose. The president and his aides have tried to force Republicans to detail specific parts of the federal budget they want to cut, betting on voter resistance to any proposals that touch popular programs such as government health care, education and pension spending.
“Any serious conversation about economic and fiscal policy must begin with a clear understanding of the participants’ goals and proposals,” Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council, and Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in a statement Tuesday.
Mr. McCarthy is expected to gather his Republican colleagues in a room under the Capitol on Wednesday morning to discuss negotiations and determine red lines for raising the debt ceiling.
“As you can imagine, there are different factions in our party that have different ideas, and we’re trying to come together to see what that might look like over the next few weeks and months,” said Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina. . “It’s a conversation we need to have. You have to have a plan. And I don’t know what that looks like yet, but it’s part of our process, having these meetings and debates and discussions and mapping it out.”
The meetings — dubbed by Mr. McCarthy as “listening sessions” — were a key part of his strategy in 2011 when he needed to persuade hardline conservative lawmakers swept to power by the Tea Party movement to vote to raise the debt ceiling.
In his Capitol office, Mr. McCarthy, then the majority whip, gently nudged lobbyists to name concessions from the Obama administration that would be substantial enough to pave the way for them to vote for a debt-limiting deal.
