Biden chided Baghdad for failing to settle disputes over the city of Kirkuk and to enact a law dividing oil revenue, among other issues.
Maliki fired back.
"I believe talk about applying pressure on the Iraqi government or taking hard measures against it no longer works."
He added: "Such speech is out of date, because the government of Iraq knows its responsibilities and acts accordingly in a strong way."
"It was we who launched national reconciliation," he said.
Biden has had a prickly relationship with Iraqi leaders since 2006 when, as head of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he proposed dividing Iraq into self-governing Sunni Arab, Shi'ite and Kurdish regions.
Iraqi leaders were furious at that proposal, known as the "Biden plan," which the Senate backed in 2007 but which has since quietly, and rightfully been mothballed.