Tim Geithner has challenged Republicans in Congress to come up with their own budget proposal as the two political parties continued to spar ahead of the looming fiscal cliff deadline at the end of the month.
Striking a hard line in the increasingly tense talks to reach a budget deal, the Treasury secretary said that Republicans, who rejected the administration’s initial proposal last week, should specify the budget cuts they want to see. “What we can’t do is keep guessing about what works,” Mr Geithner told ABC’s This Week.
He has been leading the talks with congressional leaders on behalf of Barack Obama, two months before his planned departure from his post at the end of the president’s first term in office on January 20.