Biden, who is in Japan for the G7 summit, is looking for a solution after his negotiating team announced that talks ended on Friday without progress, a White House official said.
US President Joe Biden. Photo: Reuters
There are less than two weeks until June 1, when the US Treasury Department warns that the federal government could default on its debt, which would send shockwaves through US and global financial markets.
Officials did not meet on Saturday after meetings on Friday failed to produce results, with both sides instead dismissing the other’s proposal as too extreme.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted in a statement that Mr. Biden and Mr. McCarthy, the House Republican leader, agreed that any budget deal would need to be bipartisan, and accused Republicans of putting forward proposals that exceeded the powers of the U.S. Congress .
Late Saturday afternoon, Mr McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol that he did not think talks could move forward until Mr Biden returned from the G7 meeting.
White House officials said they expected a call between Mr Biden and Mr McCarthy on Sunday morning. Mr Biden will return to Washington later today, after cutting short a trip to Asia to focus on the current debt ceiling crisis.
The Republican-led US House of Representatives last month passed a bill that would cut US government spending by 8% next year. Democrats say that would force programs like education and law enforcement to be cut by at least 22%.
Republicans hold a majority in the House and Democrats hold a majority in the Senate, so no deal can pass without bipartisan support.
A source familiar with the talks said Republicans have proposed increasing defense spending while cutting overall spending. The source also said House Republicans want to extend tax cuts passed under former President Donald Trump, which would add $3.5 trillion to the federal debt.
Meanwhile, the source said the Biden administration has proposed keeping non-defense spending unchanged next year.
Trung Kien (according to Reuters)
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