House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., who in recent days has grown frustrated with the bipartisan budget talks with the White House, has pulled out of the effort and is no longer participating, he announced Thursday and it appears another GOP participant, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., has also withdrawn from the negotiations.
With both Kyl and Cantor out of the talks, there is now no GOP representation in the negotiations. Four Democratic lawmakers remain, along with Vice President Joe Biden.
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Kyl just issued a joint statement wiht Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., accusing the White House and Democrats of insisting on “job-killing tax hikes and new spending,” in the talks, and calling on President Obama to personally step in.
Cantor’s announcement to quit the talks was “coordinated” with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, a top GOP aide told The Washington Examiner, though it appears Cantor made the decision to drop out independently.
Cantor is unwilling to continue participating until the group stops considering tax hikes as a solution for raising revenue and reducing the deficit and debt. Cantor is calling on President Obama to get involved personally in coming up with a solution.
Boehner said Thursday morning he understood Cantor’s “frustration” and said the talks could continue if Democrats take tax increases “off the table.”
Here’s a statement from Cantor:
That said, each side came into these talks with certain orders, and as it stands the Democrats continue to insist that any deal must include tax increases. There is not support in the House for a tax increase, and I don’t believe now is the time to raise taxes in light of our current economic situation. Regardless of the progress that has been made, the tax issue must be resolved before discussions can continue. Given this impasse, I will not be participating in today’s meeting and I believe it is time for the President to speak clearly and resolve the tax issue. Once resolved, we have a blueprint to move forward to trillions of spending cuts and binding mechanisms to change the way things are done around here.
