Murphy ‘skeptical’ there will be debt ceiling agreement in two weeks

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Sunday said he is “skeptical” about Republicans and Democrats coming to an agreement to resolve the debt ceiling crisis in two weeks as the deadline to raise the limit approaches.

“Well, if we want to get serious about deficit reduction, then you have to put tax increases for billionaires and corporations on the table,” Murphy told NBC’s Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press.” “That’s why I’m pretty skeptical that there’s going to be an agreement in the next two weeks.”

Lawmakers have until June 1 to vote to raise the debt ceiling before the United States begins to default on its bills, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told lawmakers earlier this month. President Biden met with congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle last week but so far no deal has emerged.

Biden has since floated the idea of using the 14th Amendment to unilaterally work around the debt ceiling, but he noted that would not be a viable short-term solution legally.

Murphy, who did not say whether he would support Biden invoking the 14th Amendment, also said that he is worried about McCarthy’s stance on the debt ceiling, noting that other leaders including Biden, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have all committed to ensuring the nation does not default.

“Well, what worries me is that Chuck Schumer, Joe Biden, even Mitch McConnell have said that, ‘If we can’t get an agreement in the next few weeks, default is off the table,'” he said. “The only leader who says, ‘We are going to light the American economy on fire if we can’t get an agreement in the next ten to 14 days,’ is Kevin McCarthy.”

“And that is deeply worrying to me because there’s an opportunity to talk about their really unpopular agenda of cuts, but the time to do that is when we’re negotiating the budget,” he added.