House Speaker Kevin McCarthy called his meeting on Monday with President Joe Biden “productive” but it ended after about an hour with no deal to raise or suspend the nation’s debt ceiling.
McCarthy told reporters after the meeting that aides would continue to work out details, but he rejected the idea of a short-term extension while negotiations continue.
“I felt we have a productive discussion. We don’t have an agreement yet,” McCarthy told reporters outside the White House. “I think the tone tonight was better than any other time we’ve had discussions.”
Biden, who flew home Sunday from the Group of Seven meeting in Japan to resume discussions Monday, said he and McCarthy both discussed the need for bipartisan agreement.
“We are pretty well divided in the House, almost down the middle. And it’s not any different in the Senate,” Biden said earlier. “So we got to get something we can sell to both sides.”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, in her latest letter to Congress on Monday, reiterated that based on the latest data, it is “highly unlikely” that the U.S. Treasury would be able to pay all of its bills in “early June, and potentially as early as June 1.”
“We have learned from past debt limit impasses that waiting until the last minute to suspend or increase the debt limit can cause serious harm to business and consumer confidence, raise short-term borrowing costs for taxpayers, and negatively impact the credit rating of the United States,” she said.
The U.S. officially reached its $31.4 trillion debt ceiling in January, and has been maneuvering to continue paying its obligations since then. Suspending or raising the debt ceiling, which Congress has voted to do 78 times since 1960, wouldn’t authorize new spending, but would pay debts that have already been approved and spent.
Although initial debt-limit discussions had included Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.), the latest talks have been driven by aides to Biden and McCarthy.
Biden has repeatedly said that he and top congressional leaders from both parties agreed that allowing the U.S. to default on its debts is not an option, but the congressional calendar is making talks even more urgent.
A bill to raise the debt ceiling would need to be passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives, and the Memorial Day holiday means that after today, the House is in session only three more days before June 1. The Senate is in session only two more days. And there are no days when both chambers are in session for the rest of the month.
Lawmakers could decide to forego their planned time off for the holiday weekend.
Write to Janet H. Cho at [email protected]
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