When President Biden meets with congressional leaders at the White House on Tuesday, he will most likely reiterate his position that Congress should pass a bill lifting the debt ceiling without negotiations or conditions. A poll from Echelon Insights showed that voters support the idea of negotiating over the debt limit. But from the perspective of someone who had a front-row seat inside the White House to the last two debt-limit standoffs between a Democratic president and a Republican House, Mr. Biden’s refusal to negotiate on the debt ceiling is the best strategy. The president must know that Mr. McCarthy is not a negotiating partner who can be trusted to deliver. The speaker’s fate is in the hands of representatives — including many House Freedom Caucus members — who have shown very little willingness for compromise or good-faith negotiation.

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