McCarthy and Biden to Meet Monday to Discuss How to Avoid Catastrophic Debt Default as June 1 Deadline Looms

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden will meet Monday to discuss how to avoid a catastrophic debt default as the June 1 deadline looms. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., said there is “a little bit of wiggle room” on the date.

McCarthy and Biden discussed the debt ceiling in a call Sunday while the president was flying back on Air Force One from the G-7 summit in Japan. Biden said at the summit that Republican leaders need to “move their extreme positions” to achieve bipartisan consensus and characterized previous proposals as “unacceptable.”

McCarthy told reporters that ahead of Monday’s meeting with Mr. Biden, he hopes the negotiating teams on Sunday can “walk through” their exact positions so they can accordingly explain them to Mr. Biden. He also said he has been “very clear” to Biden from the beginning that they need to spend less.

The debt ceiling has been a contentious issue for months, with the Biden administration pushing for a higher limit and Republicans pushing for spending cuts. With the June 1 deadline looming, Monday’s meeting between McCarthy and Biden is seen as a critical step in reaching a deal.

The White House has said that failure to raise the debt ceiling could lead to a default on the nation’s debt and have catastrophic economic consequences. It is unclear what a potential agreement between the two sides could look like, but it is clear that the meeting between McCarthy and Biden is a crucial step in avoiding a default.