Biden and McCarthy to meet on Monday as debt ceiling talks resume

House Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy said: ‘Our teams are talking today and we’re setting (sic) to have a meeting tomorrow. That’s better than it was earlier’

Less than two weeks remain until a June 1 deadline, when the Treasury Department has warned that the federal government could be unable to pay all its debts

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US President Joe Biden in Hiroshima, Japan on Sunday. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 3:01am, 22 May 2023

US President Joe Biden and House Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy will meet to discuss the debt ceiling on Monday, after a “productive” phone call as the president headed back to Washington, the two sides said on Sunday.

McCarthy, speaking to reporters at the US Capitol following the call, said there were positive discussions on solving the crisis and that staff-level talks were set to resume later on Sunday.

Asked if he was more hopeful after talking to the president, McCarthy said: “Our teams are talking today and we’re setting (sic) to have a meeting tomorrow. That’s better than it was earlier. So, yes.”

US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy in Capitol Hill, Washington on Sunday. Photo: AP

A White House official confirmed Monday’s meeting but offered no specific time. Staff members from both sides will reconvene for talks at 6pm local time on Sunday.

Biden, before leaving Japan following the G7 summit earlier on Sunday, said he would be willing to cut spending together with tax adjustments to reach a deal but the latest offer from Republicans ceiling was “unacceptable.”

Less than two weeks remain until June 1, when the Treasury Department has warned that the federal government could be unable to pay all its debts, a deadline US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reaffirmed on Sunday. A failure to lift the debt ceiling by that date would trigger a default that would cause chaos in financial markets and spike interest rates.

McCarthy’s comments on Sunday appeared more positive than the increasingly heated rhetoric in recent days, as both sides reverted to calling the other’s position extremist and talks stalled.