White House chief of staff Jeff Zients on Thursday said President Joe Biden has no plans to talk to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy ahead of what now appears a likely government shutdown this weekend.
Zients said in an interview with NPR that the White House remains in touch with people on Capitol Hill, but there’s “no need” for a face-to-face Biden-McCarthy meeting, which the embattled Republican speaker had previously called for.
“The meeting that has to take place is in the House of Representatives — where House Republicans come together and fund the government,” Zients said.
Hard-line GOP House members have refused to vote on a continuing resolution to keep the government funded beyond Sept. 30, and have shown no interest in backing a bipartisan stopgap bill from the Senate. The extremists have threatened to oust McCarthy if he recruits Democrats to pass a resolution.
In the NPR interview, Zients said a deal reached by McCarthy and the White House earlier this year to end the debt limit standoff was meant to avoid the prospect of a shutdown.
“Now what we have is a small group of extreme Republicans in the House reneging on that deal,” Zients said.
Meanwhile, right-wing House Republicans reportedly are plotting to oust McCarthy as early as next week. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), currently the third-ranking House Republican and a McCarthy ally, has been floated as a possible replacement. Emmer told The Washington Post he “fully” supports McCarthy.
Zients said while a government shutdown wouldn’t be easy, he doesn’t expect an immediate negative impact on the U.S. economy.
“We believe the economy is strong, and as long as House Republicans do their job, the economy will be fine and the government will function,” Zients said.
He added that Biden will address the American people in the event of a shutdown Sunday, which would be the first since 2019.
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