{"id":11803,"date":"2023-05-21T18:11:48","date_gmt":"2023-05-21T22:11:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/investing\/biden-and-mccarthy-to-meet-monday-on-debt-ceiling\/"},"modified":"2023-05-21T18:11:49","modified_gmt":"2023-05-21T22:11:49","slug":"biden-and-mccarthy-to-meet-monday-on-debt-ceiling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=11803","title":{"rendered":"Biden and McCarthy to Meet Monday on Debt Ceiling"},"content":{"rendered":"
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President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) will meet again Monday afternoon to try to find a deal to avoid a U.S. default after their aides meet again later today to try and hammer out remaining issues, the White House said.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers remain far apart on an agreement to raise the federal borrowing limit just days ahead of an estimated deadline after which the U.S. runs out of options to keep payments flowing.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s no agreement. We\u2019re still apart,\u201d McCarthy told reporters Sunday, saying a phone call with Biden was productive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve done my part,\u201d Biden said at a press conference earlier Sunday, before flying back to Washington, D.C., after meeting with the Group of Seven world leaders in Japan. <\/p>\n

Biden called on Republicans to move from their \u201cextreme positions,\u201d saying what they have proposed is \u201cunacceptable.\u201d <\/p>\n

The negotiations have endured months of fits and starts. 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\u2019t authorize new spending, but would pay debts that have already been approved and spent. <\/p>\n

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told NBC\u2019s Meet the Press<\/em> that the U.S. faces \u201chard choices\u201d if an agreement isn\u2019t reached, reaffirming her earlier estimate that June 1 is that X-date deadline. <\/p>\n

\u201cI will continue to update Congress, but I certainly haven\u2019t changed my assessment,\u201d Yellen said. Asked if the deadline could be pushed back to June 15, when more tax revenue is expected, Yellen said \u201cmy assessment is that the odds of reaching June 15th, while being able to pay all of our bills, is quite low.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.) told ABC<\/a>\u2019s This Week<\/em> that Democrats should move to other options, including a so-called discharge position in the House, which is a way to bypass Republicans. \u201cI think the markets are going to get shaky,\u201d he said. \u201cIt seems to me we\u2019re going to have to move in that direction pretty soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Brendan Boyle (D., Pa.), the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, and other Democrats last week collected signatures for a discharge petition, trying to muster the 218 needed to force a vote on raising the debt ceiling. <\/p>\n

Other lawmakers have floated the possibility of invoking the 14th Amendment, something Biden said Sunday he believes he has the authority to do. It would allow him to address the debt ceiling on his own, though he said the potential for legal challenges makes such a move unresolved.<\/p>\n

Biden had told reporters before leaving for the G7 summit on Wednesday that he was confident the team of aides negotiating the deal with Congress would reach an agreement, but he still cut short his Asia trip to resume negotiations in person.<\/p>\n

McCarthy had also expressed a tone of optimism on Thursday. \u201cI see the path that we can come to an agreement, and I think we have a structure now,\u201d he told reporters at the Capitol.<\/p>\n

Along with Biden and McCarthy, the other top lawmakers steering the negotiations 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.). Since a meeting of the leaders at the White House Tuesday, the deal talks have been driven by aides to Biden and McCarthy.<\/p>\n

Write to Janet H. Cho at janet.cho@dowjones.com<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n