WASHINGTON — After a tense meeting with President Joe Biden over the debt ceiling, congressional leaders left the White House frustrated by the lack of resolution.
Biden tried to assuage jitters in global financial circles by saying he thought the meeting was “productive” and that the group would meet again on Friday as the United States faced the prospect of defaulting on its obligations. finances for the first time in the country’s history.
On Tuesday, Biden met with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Democratic House Leader Hakim Jeffreys and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
The meeting discussed steps to be taken so that the government can borrow additional money to pay for the costs already incurred.
Biden then expressed optimism about a future deal. However, he reiterated that he would push for Congress to raise the debt ceiling.
“During our meeting, I made it clear that default is not an option,” he said. – I said it again and again. America is not a failed country.”
Republicans are setting federal government spending cuts as a condition for raising the national debt ceiling.
For his part, Biden insists that Congress needs to pay its bills and that the two issues need to be dealt with separately.
The parties blame each other for the current standoff, with Biden saying “a default would be a disaster.”
“Everyone at the meeting understood what a default could entail: our economy would fall into a deep recession, our retirement accounts would be depleted, the cost of borrowing would rise,” Biden said. “According to (the rating agency) Moody’s, about 8 million Americans will lose their jobs, and our international reputation will be seriously damaged.”
However, McCarthy left the meeting visibly disappointed that no progress had been made.
“I didn’t see any movement,” he said. – I asked several times: are there places where we can save money? And the president did not name them to me.
However, McConnell tried to reassure Americans that the United States would continue to pay its debts.
“The United States will not default,” he said. “It never happened and never will.”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said last week that even with the “extraordinary measures” her office is taking to pay government bills, it could lose that ability as early as June 1.
Earlier in the day, the White House warned that a US default on its debt would be a “gift” to adversaries including China and Russia, and lead to a recession that would ripple through the world. entire global economy.
“A default will create global uncertainty about the value of the US dollar, US institutions and leaders,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
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