Eric Cantor’s out, but White House says debt talks entering new phase

The White House said Thursday that talks over a long-term deficit-reduction plan are “in abeyance” after Republican House leader Eric Cantor’s decision to leave the negotiating table.

Briefing reporters on Air Force One as the president traveled to New York, Press Secretary Jay Carney described the latest developments as a transition to a new phase of talks, though he would not say if President Obama would play a more significant role, as Republicans are calling for.

“Obviously part of the design of this was to find areas of agreement and common ground and then identify areas of disagreement, which could then be referred to the leaders in Congress, obviously to the president, and [they] would then try to work out some of the areas of disagreement,” Carney said.

Cantor did call Vice President Joe Biden Thursday morning before issuing a statement announcing his break from the bipartisan talks. The two had professed in recent weeks to be making real progress toward an agreement to raise the nation’s debt limit, as an August deadline looms.

Carney confirmed that the president had met with Speaker of the House John Boehner Wednesday evening at the White House “to discuss a variety of issues,” following up on topics they discussed at Saturday’s “golf summit.” Boehner’s office said the speaker came at the president’s invitation.

The deficit-reduction talks fell apart, Republicans say, because of Democrats’ insistence that tax increases be part of the discussion -- a non-starter for the GOP.

Carney said the president thinks all proposals must be on the table, including “cuts in our tax expenditures” -- a phrase used by the bipartisan Fiscal Commission to refer to various tax credits that it proposed eliminating.

“The president supports a balanced approach. He does not support an approach that provides for a $200,000 tax cut for millionaires and billionaires, paid for by a $6,000-a-year hike in expenses and costs for seniors, and he believes the American people support him in that,” Carney said.

Staff writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.