WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the longest-serving woman in the history of Congress, Toledo Democrat Marcy Kaptur has experienced debt ceiling debates before.

What You Need To Know

  • As Congress negotiates raising the debt ceiling, Ohio lawmakers are making clear which side they agree with

  • Republicans are supporting House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s pitch to raise the borrowing limit but also cut federal spending

  • Democrats are backing President Joe Biden’s request for raising the limit with no strings attached

  • Spectrum News spoke with several Ohio lawmakers in the last week to get their take

Her take on the one currently unfolding is quite grim.

“I think, at this point, because of the extremism that is infecting the Republican Party, this negotiation is more difficult,” Rep. Kaptur told Spectrum News on Tuesday.

Like most Democrats, Kaptur is frustrated that Republicans are, so far, unwilling to agree to President Joe Biden’s demand for a so-called clean debt limit increase, which would raise the nation’s borrowing limit with no strings attached.

Earlier this week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned lawmakers that the federal government could run out of money to pay its bills by June 1.

Last week, House Republicans passed a bill that would raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion, but also cut federal spending to 2022 levels and impose several GOP policy objectives, such as expanding work requirements for Medicaid and food stamps and blocking the president’s student loan forgiveness program.

All 10 Ohio Republicans in the U.S. House voted for it, including Dayton Rep. Mike Turner.

“He needs to come to the table. He needs to negotiate. He needs to put together a package that’s good for America,” Turner said of Biden in a Fox News interview last week. “What the president has been doing has been disastrous for the economy.”

All five Ohio Democrats in the House voted against the legislation.

The Democratic-led Senate will hold hearings on the bill, but so far, it does not have the votes to pass.

Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown (D) said Republicans should be comfortable lifting the debt ceiling on its own, like both parties have done dozens of times since 1960, including under President Donald Trump.

“We have, regardless of who the president is, regardless of the party of the president, we’ve paid our debts,” Brown told Spectrum News last week. “The American public, the American people, and America as a country, we pay our debts, we don’t default on what we owe. And that’s the way this is going to be resolved.”

On Wednesday, Ohio Sen. JD Vance (R) argued that Biden is not listening to Republicans’ concerns.

“Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans have advanced a very common sense set of proposals that would allow us to pay our country's debts, but also get the country on a more sustainable financial pathway. And I just want the president to negotiate and come to the table,” Vance said in an interview.

Biden is scheduled to meet with the top four congressional leaders on May 9 to discuss a path forward.