President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy were scheduled to meet on Monday as talks continued to reach a compromise on the US budget before June 1.
Debt ceiling talks in Washington to prevent a federal default ended on Sunday, with the Democratic president sparring with the Republican speaker as Mr Biden flew home from the G7 summit in Japan on Sunday.
Mr. McCarthy said the call was “productive” and that back-and-forth talks between his staff and White House officials focused on cutting costs.
“I think we can solve some of these problems if he understands what we’re looking at,” he said. “But I’ve been very clear with him from the beginning. We have to spend less money than we spent last year.”
“There is no agreement on anything. We are looking at how we have the victory of this country.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said June 1 is a “hard deadline” after which the government could run out of cash to pay bills.
“We will continue to work,” presidential adviser Steve Ricchetti said as the White House team left the final round of talks.
Before leaving the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Mr. Biden warned House Republicans that they should abandon their “extreme positions” on raising the debt limit.
He said. “It’s time for Republicans to admit that there is no deal that can be done solely, solely on their party terms.”
All four leaders of Congress agree with me that default is not an option.
I expect each of these leaders to live up to that commitment.
America has never paid its debts. And it will never happen.
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 21, 2023
The president was due to travel to Papua New Guinea and Australia, but cut his trip short in light of strained negotiations.
Republicans want to roll back next year’s spending to 2022, but the White House has proposed keeping 2024 the same as the 2023 budget year.
Republicans initially sought 10 years of spending caps, though a recent proposal cut that to six. The White House wants a two-year budget deal.
“I think we can come to an agreement,” said Biden. “I can’t guarantee they won’t force a default by doing something nefarious.”