Biden Renews Call to Raise Debt Ceiling Without ‘Preconditions’

President Joe Biden renewed his call for House Republicans to raise the nation’s debt ceiling with no insistence on spending cuts during his State of the Union address on Feb. 7.
The president elicited jeers from Republicans during the speech when he suggested that GOP lawmakers intend to “take the economy hostage” in negotiations over the debt ceiling and that some planned to sunset Social Security and Medicare every five years.
About a third of the way through his speech, the president raised the issue of the national debt, pointing out that deficit spending had been cut by $1.7 trillion during his administration, the largest decrease in history….}