WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden will meet with US House of Representative speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday for another round of dialogue on surging the US debt ceiling less than 2 weeks before a crucial deadline to prevent default, officials said on Sunday.
President Biden and McCarthy to Meet on Monday
Concern was rising in Washington Sunday ahead of the June 1st deadline set by the US Treasury Department for Congress to allow more borrowing, as the two sides seemed nowhere near a compromise.
Speaking at a news conference before leaving to return to the country from the G7 summit in Japan, President Biden said Republicans’ latest stresses for expenditure cuts as a condition for increasing the United States government borrowing authority were “honestly unacceptable.”
“It is time for the other side to change their extreme positions,” the President said. He spoke with McCarthy later from Air Force One as he flew home from Japan. According to the White House, President Biden will meet with the US House of Representatives speaker. Kevin McCarthy wrote on Twitter following talking to Biden that his position would not change.
Just got off the phone with the president while he’s out of the country.
My position has not changed. Washington cannot continue to spend money we do not have at the expense of children and grandchildren.
Tomorrow, he and I will meet in person to continue negotiations.
— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) May 21, 2023
In his remarks in Japan, President Biden hoped that “we can reach a deal.” However, the President also cautioned that he could not give any “guarantee that they would not force a default by doing something outrageous.”
He said that he was looking into a vague constitutional clause in the 14th Amendment, which says that the validity of public debt “shall not be questioned” and possibly authorizing the US President to circumvent the US Congress and increase the debt ceiling himself. He thought that they had the authority.
The US Treasury Department says that the US government could run out of money and default on its $31 trillion debt as early as June 1st if the US Congress does not authorize additional borrowing, AFP reported.
