President Biden offered a glimmer of hope Wednesday that he would soon reach a deal with congressional leaders to raise the nation’s borrowing limit and avoid a default of the federal government’s debts that could come as soon as June 1.
The president’s remarks come one day after his White House meeting with House and Senate leaders of both parties to hammer out a deal on raising the debt ceiling.
Congress and the White House have less than two weeks to reach an agreement before the U.S. will be unable to pay its bills and default on its debt for the first time in history. Mr. Biden is cutting short his scheduled trip to Asia to continue negotiations and will now return to Washington on Sunday.
“I’m confident that we’ll get an agreement on the budget and America will not default,” Mr. Biden said from the White House just before he left to attend the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, Japan.
“We’re going to come together because there is no alternative. We have to do the right thing for the country,” he continued.
Republican National Committee Chairman Ronna McDaniel slammed Mr. Biden for traveling overseas as a potentially devastating debt default looms.
“After lying, fearmongering and blaming House Republicans, who passed a common-sense debt ceiling proposal to save taxpayers’ money, Biden is heading overseas without a deal on the debt ceiling,” she said in a statement. “Biden couldn’t be more out of touch with American families who are suffering the consequences of his failed agenda. Real leadership shows up, Biden is leaving.”
Mr. Biden shaved several days off the Asia trip, including stops in Australia and Papua New Guinea, citing the need to return for the debt talks.
Both sides have dispatched top aides to lead the negotiations and resolve any differences. Mr. Biden said the teams would be meeting again Wednesday and that he will be in contact with negotiators as well as Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy while in Japan.
As he continued to strike an optimistic tone, Mr. Biden said negotiators were focusing on the budget process, not the debt limit. Still, the president gave no indication whether the two sides had agreed on any policy proposals.
One sticking point is the work requirements for those receiving public assistance programs. Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, has said imposing such requirements is a “red line” for his party in the negotiations, but Mr. Biden and congressional liberals have opposed the idea.
On Wednesday, the president wasn’t clear about whether he would now be open to work requirements. He said he opposed work requirements that would affect some struggling people’s health needs, but added that “It’s possible” he would accept other requirements as long they were “not anything of consequence.”
Mr. Biden’s remarks appear to undercut his earlier remarks that he would only accept a “clean” debt limit increase without any GOP conditions attached. For weeks, Mr. Biden insisted that he would not negotiate any spending cuts to reach a deal and avoid a default.
House Republicans, led by Mr. McCarthy, have demanded a slew of spending cuts and policy concessions in exchange for raising the debt limit.
Mr. Biden also suggested Wednesday that he may hold a press conference, possibly on Sunday, to talk about the debt ceiling talks. Mr. Biden hasn’t held a formal press conference at the White House since November 2022.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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