OAN’s Roy Francis
11:25 AM – Tuesday, May 23, 2023
President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy did not reach an agreement during their meeting on how to raise the debt ceiling on Monday.
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With just 10 days left before the United States has to possibly default on its $31.4 trillion debt, the two have said that no agreement has been reached, however they have stated that they are inching closer and have vowed to keep talking.
“I just concluded a productive meeting with Speaker McCarthy about the need to prevent default and avoid a catastrophe for our economy. We reiterated once again that default is off the table and the only way to move forward is in good faith toward a bipartisan agreement,” Biden. “While there are areas of disagreement, the Speaker and I, and his lead negotiators Chairman McHenry and Congressman Graves, and our staffs will continue to discuss the path forward.”
McCarthy (R-Calif.) said that negotiators from both parties are “going to get together, work though the night” to find common ground.
“I believe we can still get there,” he said.
Both sides have until June 1st to come to an agreement or risk triggering a debt default that experts warn would could bring on a recession with devastating economic consequences.
Republicans have been demanding discretionary spending cuts, new work requirements for some of the programs for low-income Americans and a clawback of COVID-19 aid that was approved by Congress. Republicans have also been supporting the House-passed Limit, Save Grow Act would increased the borrowing limit by $1.5 trillion while cutting spending by around $150 billion.
Democrats on the other hand want to keep the spending steady at the same levels as they have been this year.
Biden said that he would be willing to consider spending cuts only if they came alongside certain tax adjustments, but maintains that the Republicans’ offers remain “unacceptable.”
McCarthy had been criticizing the president for his lack of initiative in discussing the debt ceiling and waiting until the last minute. The Speaker said that he had called on President Biden on January 12th to begin negations but received no response. The first scheduled meetings had been scheduled on February 1st, which the president did not attend it.
The president had finally agreed to meet with Republicans to begin negotiations on May 17th, two weeks before the projected default date.
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