Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has urged incoming President Joe Biden to take a “sensible” approach to dealing with the nation’s mounting debt as the two plan to talk on Tuesday.
McConnell told reporters on Monday that the call was a “meeting of minds” in which Biden and McConnell plan to brainstorm ideas on how to address the nation’s growing debt. McConnell believes any conversation about the debt issue “will require everyone to be sensible.”
He said that “we don’t need to go crazy with spending money we don’t have” and that both parties must be ready to compromise. He urged Biden to look for ways to reduce the nation’s debt “without diminishing our way of life.”
McConnell said he was encouraged by Biden’s willingness to dialogue and noted both sides need to be open to “shared compromise and compromise of ideas.” He also said that Republicans would “do what we can to make sure the Biden Administration has a successful first few years.”
McConnell has previously called for cuts to entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare in the past, though it remains unclear if he will raise the issue in Tuesday’s call. It is likely that the two will discuss measures such as an infrastructure bill, the current COVID-19 relief package, and economic stimulus measures.