Joe Biden declares US ‘will not default’, confident of debt ceiling deal with Republicans
- The US president has left for a G7 summit in Japan, but plans to return by the weekend in hopes of an end to the political stand-off
- Biden says every leader at Tuesday’s Oval Office meeting agreed the US must not default on its debt obligations – a potentially catastrophic outcome
An optimistic President Joe Biden declared on Wednesday he is confident the US will avoid an unprecedented and potentially catastrophic debt default, saying talks to congressional Republicans have been productive. He left for a Group of 7 (G7) summit in Japan but planned to return by the weekend in hopes of approving a solid agreement.
Biden’s upbeat remarks came as a select group of negotiators began meeting to try and hammer out the final contours of a budget spending deal to unlock a path for raising the debt limit as soon June 1. That is when the Treasury Department says the US could begin defaulting on its obligations and trigger financial chaos.
“I’m confident that we’ll get the agreement on the budget and America will not default,” Biden said from the Roosevelt Room of the White House.
Democrat Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have traded blame for a debt-ceiling impasse for weeks. But Biden said of the latest White House session with congressional leaders that “everyone came to the meeting, I think, in good faith”.
McCarthy was upbeat, too, though contending Biden had given ground. The president said the budget talks were still separate from the debt limit issue, but the speaker said Biden had “finally backed off” his refusal to negotiate.