Biden says willing to cut spending to raise debt ceiling but won't accept Republican terms

USINGLEAGUE 2.0

 

Biden says willing to cut spending to raise debt ceiling but won't accept Republican terms

President Biden said on Sunday (May 21) that he is willing to cut spending, but will not agree to the conditions proposed by congressional Republicans to raise the federal debt ceiling and cut the budget.

Biden told a news conference in Hiroshima that he would speak with Republican House Speaker McCarthy on his way back to the United States to discuss the negotiations. But he stressed that a U.S. debt default would have serious consequences and was not an option.

Biden said he believes he has the right to invoke the 14th Amendment to raise the debt ceiling without Congress. However, it is uncertain whether he will be able to take similar steps in time to prevent a default.

Biden, who was in Japan for the G7 summit, was briefed by his negotiating team after talks with House Republicans collapsed without signs of progress, a White House official said, seeking a Talk to McCarthy.

It is less than two weeks away from the date the U.S. Treasury Department has warned the federal government may not be able to pay its debt by June 1. Failure to reach an agreement would trigger a default, leading to chaos in financial markets and higher interest rates.

The Associated Press reported that in the past few months, President Biden has refused to negotiate with House Republicans on the debt ceiling issue, insisting that Congress is trying to use the federal borrowing ceiling issue as leverage to obtain other policy concessions.

However, the U.S. Treasury Department said funds could dry up as early as June 1. After House Republicans passed a bill to raise the federal debt ceiling and cut federal government spending, the White House began negotiating with Republicans to try to reach a budget deal that would raise the federal debt ceiling.