US President Joe Biden and US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy postponed their meeting on the debt ceiling set for yesterday as their aides continued negotiations toward avoiding a catastrophic US default.
The delay signals that staff-level talks on energy permitting reform and government spending have yielded progress, people familiar with the talks said.
McCarthy said Biden is planning to meet with him and other congressional leaders next week, although neither side specified a date.
Photo: REUTERS
McCarthy told reporters at the US Capitol in Washington that the leaders agreed it would be “more productive” for staff to proceed with their discussions.
‘MOVING ALONG’
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he believed talks “are moving along.”
White House Director of Legislative Affairs Louisa Terrell met behind closed doors with McCarthy chief of staff Dan Meyer and other aides for more than two hours on Thursday afternoon.
Yet even as both sides touted progress in private talks, McCarthy — who must pacify restive conservatives who demand deep budget cuts — sharply criticized Democrats.
PANNING BIDEN
“President Biden and Senator Schumer are stuck on ‘no.’ They have no plan, no proposed savings and no clue,” McCarthy told reporters as news of the meeting delay broke. “Apparently, President Biden doesn’t want to deal. He wants to default.”
McCarthy said one of the leaders had to attend a funeral yesterday and that, “combined with the lack of progress and seriousness on the part of the White House,” led to the postponement.
However, he added that it did not mean the talks had fallen apart.
The US Department of the Treasury has warned that the US could default on payments as soon as June 1 if lawmakers are unable to strike an agreement to raise the debt ceiling.
Doing so would reverberate throughout the global economy, economists say.
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