McConnell tells Biden he won't cooperate with Democrats to raise debt ceiling again

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Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Friday warned President Joe Biden he should not expect cooperation on raising the debt ceiling again, a day after he voted with Democrats to overcome a procedural hurdle and make way for a temporary extension of the limit through early December.

"I write to inform you that I will not provide such assistance again if your all-Democrat government drifts into another avoidable crisis," McConnell said in a letter to Biden.

The pair also spoke on Friday, according to a source familiar with the conversation, and another source familiar with the conversation said McConnell delivered the same message to the President that was in the letter.

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In his letter Friday, McConnell touted the deal as due to his leadership and blamed the Democrats, namely Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, for the crisis.

"Senator Schumer marched the nation to the doorstep of disaster," he said. "Embarrassingly, it got to the point where Senators on both sides were pleading for leadership to fill the void and protect our citizens. I stepped up."

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In his letter Friday, McConnell called Schumer's speech "a bizarre spectacle."
"Senator Schumer exploded in a rant that was so partisan, angry, and corrosive that even Democratic Senators were visibly embarrassed by him and for him," McConnell said.

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McConnell said Friday that by granting the Democrats more time, it will be up to them to resolve the crisis without his cooperation if the US verges on the brink again.

"I will not be a party to any future effort to mitigate the consequences of Democratic mismanagement. Your lieutenants on Capitol Hill now have the time they claimed they lacked to address the debt ceiling through standalone reconciliation, and all the tools to do it. They cannot invent another crisis and ask for my help," he wrote.

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