尽管共和党参议院领袖米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)在美国债务上限的直接摊牌上做出了让步，至少是暂时的让步，但这并不是这位共和党领袖第一次在避免灾难性违约方面与乔·拜登总统对抗。
事实上，联邦债务僵局对麦康奈尔和拜登来说并不新鲜。两人在这个问题上有着深入的谈判史。
这些资深政客在华盛顿期间，一直站在债务上限谈判的对立面，在促成交易以满足2011年和2013年迫在眉睫的最后期限方面发挥着关键作用。
2011年，这是美国最后一次面临可能的债务违约，当时的副总统拜登负责领导两党提高债务上限的谈判。在众议院共和党人离开谈判桌后，谈判最终没有成功。
尽管遭遇挫折，拜登还是与麦康奈尔合作协商解决方案，一直努力避免潜在的违约。然而，这还不足以阻止美国信用评级因华盛顿的动荡而在历史上首次被下调。
不到两年后，随着两党再次陷入僵局，拜登和麦康奈尔发现他们正在进行谈判，以避免“财政悬崖”——即将到来的大规模增税和全面自动联邦支出削减的碰撞，以及迫在眉睫的债务危机。
在新年假期前的深夜和清晨通话中，拜登在当时的参议院多数党领袖哈里·里德和麦康奈尔的谈判陷入僵局后，与麦康奈尔达成了一项协议。
随后，拜登在14小时内两次前往国会山，向自己政党的成员推销该计划，成功避免了这场灾难。
拜登和麦康奈尔在参议院并肩工作了24年，经常吹嘘他们之间的长期关系。
2019年，当被问及如果当选总统，他将如何处理麦康奈尔的阻挠时，拜登指出了他过去的经历。
拜登在竞选活动中说:“米奇·麦康奈尔是一个非常强硬的人，米奇·麦康奈尔在很大程度上是一个理论家，但我提醒你，你可能还记得，当我们打算关闭政府并拖欠国家债务时，我在除夕那天会见了米奇·麦康奈尔，我让他同意对富人增税。
他补充说:“过去，通过与世界上的米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnells)找到共同利益和共同点，我已经能够做很多事情——至少人们承认我已经能够与他们做很多事情。
随着美国再次面临可能的违约，麦康奈尔在本周给总统的一封信中也夸大了他与拜登的历史。
“多年来，我们的工作关系不仅是由强烈的分歧决定的，也是由相互透明和相互尊重的坦诚决定的。我本着这种精神写这封信，是为了表达这样的担忧，即由于众议院议长和参议院民主党领袖在基本执政职责上的混乱和不作为，我们的国家正在梦游般地走向重大且可以避免的危险，”这位少数党领袖写道，并指出他目前的立场与拜登过去的立场并不矛盾。
“在2003年、2004年和2006年，总统先生，你和参议院民主党人一起反对增加债务限额，并让共和党人自己去做。你在参议院解释说，你的反对票并不意味着你希望大多数人让国家违约，而是总统的政党必须为你反对的政策议程负责。你当时的观点就是我们现在的观点。”
尽管麦康奈尔进行了外联，但随着僵局的持续，拜登似乎远离了直接谈判，但并不羞于指责共和党人的努力。
“在我看来，他们今天所做的事情是如此鲁莽和危险，”拜登周一谈到共和党时说。“这是关于支付我们已经欠下的，已经获得的。不是什么新鲜事。它从简单的事实开始。美国是一个支付账单的国家，而且一直如此。从一开始，我们从未违约。”
收到这封信后，拜登周一告诉记者，他和麦康奈尔将进行交谈。
“我希望我们能就他的提议进行一些明智和诚实的对话，”总统说。
然而，白宫后来表示，两人之间没有通话，并淡化了总统更亲自参与的必要性。
“他们没有说话。我认为，总统一再传达的信息是，他当然愿意——正如他在整个总统任期内所表现的那样——在他认为有建设性的时候，与民主党和共和党进行对话，”白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基周三表示。
虽然参议院民主党人欢呼周三的初步协议是他们党的胜利，但该协议可能会在12月的某个时候搁置这个问题，得到普萨基不冷不热的回应。
“为什么要把罐子再扔几个星期?为什么要增加一层不确定性?为什么不现在就完成呢?这就是我们继续敦促的，也是我们的第一选择，”她周三告诉记者。
周四，白宫对该协议的看法更为乐观，白宫首席副新闻秘书郭佳欣·让-皮埃尔称之为“向前迈出的积极一步”，这将为民主党人提供“一些喘息的空间，以避免我们正在接近的灾难性违约。”
但即使他退缩了，麦康奈尔仍然坚定地认为，只要民主党人继续按照政党路线，通过同样的措施推进总统数万亿美元的基础设施和社会支出协议，他们就应该独自承担通过和解提高债务限额的责任。
“共和党人不应该像他们那样把我们带到违约的边缘。解决债务限额问题不应该是党派之争。这是为了偿还两党已经积累的债务，包括特朗普和麦康奈尔时期的8万亿美元，”让-皮埃尔反驳道。
“这是一个暂时的喘息机会，但在参议员麦康奈尔停止阻挠并允许我们永远把这件事抛在脑后之前，我们不会松懈。”
新政使新的债务上限时间表与国会12月的另一个最后期限完全一致:为政府提供资金以防止政府关门，确保债务降级远未结束。
Biden, McConnell debt standoffs are nothing new
While GOP Senate Leader Mitch McConnell has backed down, at least temporarily, over the immediate showdown over the nation's debt ceiling, it's not the first time the Republican leader has been pitted against President Joe Biden in avoiding a catastrophic default.
In fact, standoffs over the federal debt are nothing new for McConnell and Biden. The two have a history of down-to-the-wire negotiations on the issue.
The veteran politicians have been on opposing sides of the negotiating table on the debt limit throughout their time in Washington, playing critical roles in brokering deals to meet looming deadlines in 2011 and 2013.
In 2011, the last time the country faced a possible default on their debts, then-Vice President Biden was put in charge of leading bipartisan negotiations to raise the debt ceiling. The talks were ultimately unsuccessful after House Republicans walked away from the table.
Despite the setback, Biden worked with McConnell to negotiate a solution, working down to the wire to avoid a potential default. It wasn't enough, however, to prevent the United States' credit rating from being downgraded for the first time in history due to the turmoil in Washington.
Fewer than two years later, with the two parties once again at an impasse, Biden and McConnell found themselves negotiating to avoid the "fiscal cliff" -- an impending collision of massive tax increases and sweeping automatic federal spending cuts combined with a looming debt crisis.
In late night and early morning calls ahead of the New Year holiday, Biden worked out a deal with McConnell after talks between then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and McConnell stalled.
Biden then made two trips to Capitol Hill within 14 hours to sell the plan to members of his own party, successfully averting the catastrophe.
Biden and McConnell served alongside each other in the Senate for 24 years and have often touted their long-standing relationship.
When pressed in 2019 about how he would deal with McConnell's obstruction if elected president, Biden pointed to his past experiences.
"Mitch McConnell is a very tough guy and Mitch McConnell has been very much an ideologue, but I remind you, you may remember when we were going to shut down the government and default on the national debt, I met with Mitch McConnell on the -- New Year's Eve day and I got him to agree to raise taxes on the wealthy," Biden said on the campaign trail.
"I've been able to get a lot -- at least people acknowledge I've been able to get an awful lot done with the Mitch McConnells of the world, in the past, by finding a common interest and a common ground with them," he added.
With the country again staring down a possible default, McConnell also played up his history with Biden in a letter to the president this week.
"For many years, our working relationship has been defined not only by our strong disagreements, but also by mutual transparency and respectful candor. I write in that spirit to express concern that our nation is sleepwalking toward significant and avoidable danger because of confusion and inaction from the Speaker of the House and the Senate Democratic Leader concerning basic governing duties," the Minority Leader wrote, noting that his current position was not out of line with Biden's past stance.
"In 2003, 2004, and 2006, Mr. President, you joined Senate Democrats in opposing debt limit increases and made Republicans do it ourselves. You explained on the Senate floor that your 'no' votes did not mean you wanted the majority to let the country default, but rather that the President's party had to take responsibility for a policy agenda which you opposed. Your view then is our view now."
Despite McConnell's outreach, as the stand off continued, Biden appeared to stay away from direct negotiations but was not shy about rebuking Republicans' efforts.
"What they are doing today is so reckless and dangerous in my view," Biden said of Republicans Monday. "It's about paying what we already owe, what has already been acquired. Not anything new. It starts with the simple truth. The United States is a nation that pays its bills and always has. From its inception, we have never defaulted."
After receiving the letter, Biden told reporters on Monday that he and McConnell would speak.
"I hope we can have some intelligent and honest conversation about what he's proposing," the president said.
The White House, however, later said no call between the two had taken place and downplayed the need for the president to get more personally involved.
"They have not spoken. I think what the president has repeatedly conveyed is that he's certainly open to, as he -- as he has shown throughout the course of his presidency, having conversations with Democrats and Republicans when he feels it would be constructive," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday.
While Senate Democrats cheered Wednesday's tentative agreement as a win for their party, the deal would likely punt the issue down the road to some point in December -- earning a lukewarm reception from Psaki.
"Why kick the can down the road a couple of more weeks? Why create an additional layer of uncertainty? Why not just get it done now? That's what we're continuing to press for, and that's our first choice," she told reporters Wednesday.
Thursday, the White House had a more optimistic view of the deal, with White House principal deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre calling it a "positive step forward" that would provide Democrats with "some breathing room from the catastrophic default we were approaching."
But even with his retreat, McConnell is standing firm that Democrats should solely own the responsibility of raising the debt limit through reconciliation so long as they continue to move on the president's multi-trillion dollar infrastructure and social spending deals through the same measure, along party lines.
"Republicans should never have brought us to the brink of default, like they did. Addressing the debt limit shouldn't be a partisan football. This is about paying the debt that both parties have already accrued, including the $8 trillion under Trump and McConnell," Jean-Pierre pushed back.
"This is a temporary respite, but we're not going to let up until Senator McConnell stops obstructing and allows us to put this behind us for good."
The new deal puts the new debt ceiling timeline squarely in line with another December deadline for Congress: funding the government to prevent a government shutdown, ensuring the showdowns are far from over.
