McCarthy sees "no movement" in debt talks ahead of Biden meeting
US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy warned on Monday that there has been "no movement" toward an agreement to lift the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling in talks with the White House, and he warned that time is running out to get a deal through Congress and avoid a first-ever US default.
McCarthy's comments come as both he and President Joe Biden prepared for critical debt-ceiling talks, with a little more than two weeks to go before the US 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 planned 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.
"Not, no, the negotiations themselves, nothing's moved," McCarthy told reporters. "There is no movement... If this is where we were in February we're talking, we would be in a good place. But we're only a couple of weeks away. And if you look at the timeline to pass something in the House and pass something in the Senate, you've got to have something done by this weekend and we are nowhere near any of that."
Biden has insisted that Congress must increase the country's borrowing capacity without conditions, but the White House says it is also willing to discuss budget matters with House Republicans.
House Republicans passed legislation in April that pairs a $1.5 trillion debt-ceiling hike with $4.8 trillion in spending cuts, largely achieved by cutting annual discretionary spending by 8% next year and capping growth in the years to come.
Democrats say they will not agree to other elements of that legislation, such as a repeal of Biden's student-loan forgiveness effort and an increase in work requirements for some benefit programs.
But they have not ruled out spending caps.
Reuters
