Larry Summers Advises Biden To Stay Strong On Debt Crisis: President Shouldn't 'Bow To Demands Of Extremists'

Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers has some advice for President Joe Biden regarding the debt ceiling — stay strong.

On being asked what his advice would be to Biden during an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Summers said he would tell the President that it's not a viable strategy for the country to default on obligations, whether it is interest obligations or obligations to pay contractors, Federal workers, or social security benefits.

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“That's the stuff of banana republics. He's not going to engage in any of that stuff. I advise him to basically insist Congress do its job and approve the borrowing to finance the spending it is already both authorized and appropriated. I think he should be staying very strong. Will there be any cosmetic things affecting looking at future spending at some point? Maybe there will be. But fundamentally, this is not something where there should be bargaining,” he said.

To the question of whether he was worried about Republicans holding up the process and causing a crisis, Summers said he's "more worried about the consequences of kowtowing to terrorists or setting precedents for completely out-of-scope executive actions."

“Fifteen people can't stop the debt limit unless 210 other Republicans are committed to voting with them. It only takes a few responsible Republicans for the Democrats and some Republicans to raise the debt limit. I think that's what the President should be insisting on in terms of isolating the extremists. That some in the Republican party may bow to the demands of the extremists does not mean the President of the United States should do that,” he said.

Talks: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has reportedly called on Biden to agree to compromises and spending cuts. McCarthy's comments came on Monday before Biden’s scheduled annual State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, reported Reuters.

The White House has stated the President will discuss federal spending cuts with Republicans, but only after the debt ceiling is lifted. McCarthy, however, has said Republicans would only lift the ceiling if Biden agrees to spending cuts.

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Photo: World Economic Forum via Wikimedia Commons