The contentious debt ceiling limit issue hangs on President Joe Biden's willingness to make spending cuts, and Republicans are "not going to blink" until those demands are met, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said Monday.
Appearing on Newmax's "National Report," Marshall said he didn't think "negotiations have even formally started, for all practical purposes."
"What Joe Biden needs to realize is we're not going to give him another credit card unless he balances the budget, has some responsible spending," he said.
"We think that people who are able to work, that they should work. If they took on a school loan, they should pay back that school loan. We have some very reasonable requests that this president says are nonstarters, but we're not going to blink."
Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy were expected to convene at the White House on Monday afternoon in a pivotal moment as Washington works to strike a budget compromise and raise the nation's borrowing limit in time to avert a federal default.
After a weekend of start-stop talks, Biden and McCarthy appeared upbeat as they face a deadline, as soon as June 1, when the government could run out of cash to pay its bills.
"The Republicans are sticking together on this," Marshall told Newsmax. "Joe Biden is not negotiating in good faith. And this ball is in his court. It's up to him again."
Marshall also praised Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., for announcing his entry into the 2024 presidential race Monday, calling him "Reagan-esque."
"He's a great communicator. Happier warrior," Marshall said of Scott. "He still believes that America is truly this bright shining city on a hill. And I can tell you the person that you saw there today is the same person I see every day in the Senate. … He's a guy that can win the general election."
Marshall also hailed Scott as "a man of faith," calling it a "prerequisite" to run for president.
"I think that our base wants a person of faith, a person that believes in God, that we're still one nation under God, but at the same time, I have respect for everybody's civil rights, civil liberties," Marshall said.
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