Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy speaks with reporters concerning the debt restrict negotiations as he arrives on the Capitol in Washington on May 22, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP
Anxiety grew in Washington on Monday as U.S. President Joe Biden ready to fulfill once more with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for negotiations on elevating the U.S. debt ceiling, 10 days earlier than a key deadline to keep away from a disastrous default.
After a weekend of close to impasse, Mr. Biden arrived again in Washington late on Sunday, reducing quick a visit to Asia to renew talks forward of the U.S. Treasury’s June 1 cutoff date for Congress to authorise extra borrowing.
Stock indexes opened no clear course, with the Dow Jones including 0.02% as Wall Street centered on the standoff.
Mr. Biden and Mr. McCarthy spoke because the President flew again to the U.S. from the G-7 summit in Japan on Air Force One.
“It went well,” Mr. Biden advised reporters of the cellphone name as he arrived on the White House Sunday evening. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”
And earlier within the day, Mr. McCarthy had stated the dialog was “productive” — in distinction to the sharp phrases exchanged in a earlier spherical of negotiations.
Still, the 2 sides appeared removed from a last compromise, as Biden stated Republicans’ newest calls for for spending cuts as a situation for elevating the US authorities borrowing authority have been “frankly unacceptable.”
“It’s time for the other side to move from their extreme positions,” he stated at a press convention earlier than leaving the G-7 summit in Hiroshima.
Mr. McCarthy stated his personal place remained unchanged.
“Washington cannot continue to spend money we do not have at the expense of children and grandchildren,” he stated on Twitter after speaking to Biden.
Mr. Biden stated he was trying into an obscure constitutional clause within the 14th Amendment, which states that the validity of public debt “shall not be questioned” — and doubtlessly authorizing the president to bypass Congress and lift the debt ceiling himself.
“I think we have the authority. The question is could it be done and invoked in time,” he stated, noting the probability of authorized challenges to this and the quickly approaching debt deadline.
The Treasury Department says the federal government may run out of cash and default on funds on its $31 trillion debt as early as June 1 if Congress, the place Republicans management the House of Representatives, doesn’t authorize extra borrowing.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated Sunday that June 1 stays a “hard deadline,” including: “My assessment is that the odds of reaching June 15th, while being able to pay all of our bills, is quite low.”
Mr. Biden had deliberate to journey from Japan to Papua New Guinea and Australia however lower quick the Asia journey because of the debt talks.
This added to the impression that he limped into the G7 summit as a weakened chief of a divided nation stumbling from one disaster to the following because the world regarded on in dismay.
Source: www.thehindu.com
