WASHINGTON — President Obama will hold his final news conference of his first term at 11:30 Monday morning in the East Room of the White House with the intention of reiterating his tough line with Congressional Republicans about the need to increase the debt limit soon, administration officials said.
Just one month after the school massacre in Newtown, Conn., Mr. Obama is likely to be questioned, however, about proposals to address gun violence that Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. plans to unveil on Tuesday. Mr. Biden has a meeting scheduled with House members later Monday morning to discuss various gun control proposals.
On the debt limit, the Treasury has said it must be increased between mid-February and March so the government can continue to borrow to pay its bills, including to foreign creditors, Social Security beneficiaries and myriad others over obligations incurred by presidents and Congresses over the years.
Congressional Republicans have said they will not support an increase without dollar-for-dollar spending cuts. But Mr. Obama vows that he will not be forced into negotiations that put the nation’s credit at risk, as it was in mid-2011, when, he said, brinkmanship damaged the economy and led one rating firm to downgrade the nation’s credit rating.
Just one month after the school massacre in Newtown, Conn., Mr. Obama is likely to be questioned, however, about proposals to address gun violence that Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. plans to unveil on Tuesday. Mr. Biden has a meeting scheduled with House members later Monday morning to discuss various gun control proposals.
On the debt limit, the Treasury has said it must be increased between mid-February and March so the government can continue to borrow to pay its bills, including to foreign creditors, Social Security beneficiaries and myriad others over obligations incurred by presidents and Congresses over the years.
Congressional Republicans have said they will not support an increase without dollar-for-dollar spending cuts. But Mr. Obama vows that he will not be forced into negotiations that put the nation’s credit at risk, as it was in mid-2011, when, he said, brinkmanship damaged the economy and led one rating firm to downgrade the nation’s credit rating.