Biden and McCarthy: Raising the U.S. Debt Ceiling

U.S. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, are meeting today, Tuesday, in an attempt to make progress in negotiations to raise the U.S. government debt ceiling of $31.4 trillion and avoid a catastrophic default. The U.S. Treasury Department warned again yesterday, Monday, that its financial resources may fail to meet all of the U.S. government's obligations by June 1, which would result in the United States defaulting on its debts for the first time and likely lead to a severe economic contraction, according to economists. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told a group of bankers, "Time is running out. For every day that Congress takes no action, we see an increase in economic costs that could slow the U.S. economy... We have no time to waste." White House officials described the talks as constructive, but McCarthy warned yesterday that there had been little progress in his view. McCarthy told reporters, "Given the timeline to pass anything (a resolution) in the House and to pass anything in the Senate, it is necessary to make progress by the end of this week... which we have not yet approached." Biden is scheduled to leave the country tomorrow, Wednesday, to participate in the G7 summit in Japan, while the House is set to begin a week-long recess after Thursday's session.