House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and his Republican colleagues refuse to negotiate an increase in the debt ceiling without a reduction in federal spending. They propose capping discretionary spending in 2024 back to 2022 levels. This would require a reduction in discretionary spending of $133 billion. There is broad support within the Republican caucus that the spending cuts should be in non-defense programs. President Biden and his Democratic colleagues say that raising the debt ceiling automatically without negotiations over federal spending is “not negotiable.” For Democrats, the idea that discretionary spending should be reduced significantly and that the spending cuts...