The Republican speaker of the US House, Kevin McCarthy, said on Wednesday he thought a deal to avoid a debt default was in reach.
“I think at the end of the day we do not have a debt default,” McCarthy told CNBC, discussing talks with the Biden White House and Democrats in Congress.
“The thing I’m confident about is now we have a structure to find a way to come to a conclusion. The timeline is very tight. But we’re going to make sure we’re in the room and get this done.”
Joe Biden’s press secretary said the president would continue to hold talks with Republicans this week and would meet them again after the G7 summit in Japan, a trip cut short to pursue a debt ceiling deal.
Karine Jean-Pierre told CNN Biden was “optimistic that we’ll get to a reasonable, bipartisan budget deal that can get to his desk next week that he can sign”.
On Tuesday, as Biden postponed plans to visit Papua New Guinea and Australia, he and McCarthy met for an hour at the White House, a meeting the president called productive.
The US treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, has indicated that without agreement, default could come as early as 1 June. A failure to honour debts could have catastrophic impacts on the US and world economies.
Republicans want sharp spending cuts. Democrats say Republicans should agree to a “clean” debt bill, the sort they repeatedly passed under Donald Trump.
On Wednesday, Jean-Pierre told MSNBC: “The president is looking forward to having conversations with the congressional leaders on the phone and meeting with them again when he comes back from overseas.”
Speaking to CNN, Jean-Pierre said Biden’s decision to cut short his Asia trip sent “the message that… America does not default on its debt”.
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