Biden singles out Westchester Republican for PRAISE - then says Kevin McCarthy has yielded to Trump

President Joe Biden took his drive to try to force House Republicans to raise the debt limit on the road Wednesday – where he lauded a member of the House GOP who voted for a budget plan that Biden slammed for having devastating cuts.

Biden flew to Westchester County north of New York City Wednesday, where he immediately called attention to Republican Rep. Mike Lawler, who defeated Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney last year.

'He's on the other team, Biden said.  He called him one of 'the kind of Republicans I used to deal with' when he was a lawmaker for 36 years.

'He’s not one of these MAGA Republicans,' Biden said.

He kicked off his speech about the risks posed by budget cuts that House Republicans are demanding as a price for increasing the nation's statutory debt limit.

President Joe Biden flew to Westchester County, New York, where he hosted GOP Rep. Mike Lawler and bashed the  budget / debt limit plan that Lawler voted for

But Lawler himself, who won the seat with just 51 per cent of the vote, voted for the House GOP budget that raised the debt limit for a year and had just a 1 per cent spending increase – below inflation and a return to prior year levels. 

Lawler has called for avoiding default by raising the debt ceiling, but also urged BIden to negotiate with Republicans.

He represents a Hudson River Valley district and is one of five Republicans who carried blue districts in order to flip the House to GOP control in November 2022. 

'I welcome him obviously,' Lawler said before Biden's trip. 'I'm willing to listen to what he has to say.  But we have to engage in a good faith negotiation and I think just taking the tack that we're not going to negotiate is wrong and frankly hypocritical.'

Biden wasn't so generous to McCarthy, or what he called the 'very extreme wing' of the Republican Party.

'Now they refer to themselves as the MAGA Republicans,' he told a crowd in White Plains. 

'They’ve taken control of the House. They have a speaker who has his job because he yielded to the MAGA element of the party,' Biden said.

Although Biden and Republicans didn't appear to make ground with a Tuesday meeting, they agreed to talk again Friday, with the country risking potential default within weeks as Treasury runs out of 'extraordinary measures' to avoid crossing the debt limit. 

That came a day after Biden brought up the close vote McCarthy had to overcome to seize the gavel, including cutting deals with members of the arch conservative members of the House 'Freedom Caucus.' 

Valhalla I am coming: Biden blasted 'MAGA Republicans' during remarks in Valhalla, New Yor,, as he called for the GOP to raise the debt limit to avoid a default

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) attended the event where Biden ripped the House GOP budget plan he voted for

Biden took on the House GOP budget after meeting with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky at the White House

'They are literally … holding the economy hostage by threatening to default on our nation’s debt that we’ve already incurred … unless we give into their threats and demands of what they think we should be doing regarding the budget,' Biden said.

He said bringing spending levels back to 2022 funding would amount to a severe cut to veterans' benefits, teachers, and law enforcement. 

'The speaker and the Republicans don’t like that I point that out,' Biden said. 'But that’s not my opinion, it’s just basic math.'

He said the cuts, which protect defense spending, would lead to the loss of 11,000 FBI officers, 2,000 Border Patrol agents, plus DEA officers. 

'They’d have to cut that many law enforcement officers,' he said.

He said the cuts would risk shutting down 375 air traffic control towers, and eliminate 30 million veterans' health visits by wiping away a $22 billion increase.

'There's not enough personnel,' he said. He even said the cuts could drive up veteran suicides by cutting back on assistance. 'They want to go back to cut those folks that now provide that kind of help,' said Biden. 

The speech is part of a running public effort to try to persuade Republicans to back off their demands.

Biden previously tweeted images of 217 House Republicans who voted for the budget, saying the voted to 'undermine veterans' healthcare.'