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President Joe Biden and Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday prepared for critical debt-ceiling talks, with a little more than two weeks to go before the U.S. government could run short of money to pay its bills.
Democratic and Republican staff were working to find common ground on spending levels and energy regulations before a 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) Tuesday meeting between Biden, McCarthy and the three other top congressional leaders.
The White House has not ruled out the annual spending caps that Republicans say must accompany any increase in the nation’s $31.4 trillion debt limit.
Republicans, who control the House, have said they will not vote to raise the debt ceiling unless Democrats agree to sharp spending cuts. Failure to lift the limit — a move necessary to cover the costs of spending and tax cuts previously approved by Congress — could trigger a default that would set off a sharp economic downturn.
But McCarthy said he saw little sign of progress ahead of the meeting with McCarthy, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell and top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, which comes the day before Biden is due to leave Washington to attend a Group of Seven nations meeting in Japan.
“They’re not doing well at all. There’s no progress that I see, and it really concerns me with the timeline of where we are,” McCarthy, speaking to reporters, said of the talks. “We’ve got big issues to get to, and you’ve got to get through the House and the Senate, and there’s definitely not enough progress to see that.”
Asked if Biden should leave for Japan without a debt ceiling deal in place, McCarthy told reporters: “Look, I think an American president should focus on solutions of America. And I think it shows your values…
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