CNN's Jim Sciutto sparred with Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., on Wednesday over the debt ceiling fight and negotiations between President Biden and House Republicans.
Sciutto asked Johnson about what programs Republicans might be willing to cut. Johnson said that Biden needed to be willing to negotiate with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy.
"See, I think that’s ridiculously unfair and here is why, the credit card bill comes to our family, we have maxed out our credit cards. Now of course, listen, we are going to pay that credit card bill, we’re legally obligated to do so, but rather than force all of the onus on the Republicans, which I know y’all love to do, what a responsible, reasonable and sensible family would do is sit down together," Johnson began.
Sciutto insisted he was not putting the onus on Republicans but rather "the law" was putting the onus on Congress to "pay its bill."
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"There are lots of programs but the point is I’m not going to negotiate against the Republican Party on CNN. The only thing that we're asking for today is for President Biden to be responsible, sensible and reasonable and being willing to come to the table and negotiate," Johnson said.
Johnson accused Sciutto of wanting to get Republicans to negotiate "against themselves."
"I should note that when Republican presidents were in office, George W. Bush and Trump, Democrats did not push the country to the brink. And by the way, Republicans did not push their own Republican president to the brink on the debt ceiling, although I should note for our viewers, you noted against raising the debt ceiling yourself, but the Republican leadership did not. Why that difference? Why push this president but not Trump?" Sciutto asked.
Johnson told the CNN host that he loved "this revisionist history" and said they had a Republican president "who was willing to work with them" on spending cuts.
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"If we are going to get this done it’s not about CNN or Joe Biden putting all of the onus on Republicans to identify cuts. It will be two responsible men who should be the President of the United States and the speaker of the House sitting down to begin the negotiations rather than onus all being on one party," Johnson said.
McCarthy and Biden are set to meet on Wednesday at the White House to discuss a wide range of issues, including a solution on the debt ceiling.
"We need to sit down together, find common ground, find where we can eliminate the waste, and let's put our country back on a path where we can balance and get our future brighter than before," McCarthy said earlier this week. "We're going to work very closely together, and I think you're going to find us more united than ever before."
The Biden administration refuses to make cuts to Social Security and Medicare and White House spokesperson Andrew Bates accused House Republicans of attempting to cut "vital lifelines for the middle class that Americans pay into throughout their lives."
