Top Republican Kevin McCarthy will meet Joe Biden on avoiding US debt default
- Talks will be McCarthy’s first with the president since he became House speaker this month after Republicans won control of the chamber
- Hardline Republican lawmakers are withholding support for a measure that would let the US pay its debts until Democrats agree to spending cuts
“I want to find a reasonable and a responsible way that we can lift the debt ceiling,” while controlling what he called “runaway spending” by Congress, McCarthy told CBS Sunday programme Face the Nation.
The talks will be McCarthy’s first with the president since he became Speaker of the House of Representatives this month after Republicans won control of the chamber.
McCarthy said cuts to Medicare and Social Security were “off the table”.
“If you read our Commitment to America, all we talk about is strengthening Medicare and Social Security. So - and I know the president says he doesn’t want to look at it - but we’ve got to make sure we strengthen those,” McCarthy said on Face the Nation.
The raising of the national debt limit – which allows the government to pay for spending already incurred – is often routine.