President Joe Biden on Monday evening talked about the importance of raising the U.S. debt ceiling and avoiding a market-shaking default, as he and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy began a White House meeting on the issue.
“We’ve got to get something done,” Biden told reporters before they were ushered out of the Oval Office.
“We still have some disagreements, but I think we may be able to get to where we have to go. We both know we have a significant responsibility,” the president added.
Analysts have emphasized that it’s getting to be crunch time.
“We need to see a deal by Friday to have confidence that it can clear both
chambers before the June 1 deadline,” Height Capital Markets analysts said in a note.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned in a letter after the market’s close on Monday that it’s “highly likely that Treasury will no longer be able to satisfy all of the government’s obligations if Congress has not acted to raise or suspend the debt limit by early June, and potentially as early as June 1.” That echoed warnings that she offered last week and previously on May 1.
McCarthy and his fellow Republicans have been seeking spending cuts in exchange for lifting the ceiling for federal borrowing, while Biden and his fellow Democrats reportedly have offered a freeze for outlays and asked for tax hikes.
McCarthy, a California Republican, told reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday that a deal needs to happen this week. He said it’s “still possible” to get an agreement through Congress by June 1.
Biden and McCarthy spoke by phone Sunday as the president was flying back to Washington on Air Force One after the G-7 summit in Japan. Their representatives also met for two and a half hours on Sunday, as talks appear to be narrowing on a spending cap for the 2024 budget year.
Read more: Debt-ceiling standoff: Here’s what could go into a bipartisan deal
And see: Biden says in Hiroshima press conference that Republicans must ‘move from their extreme positions’ on debt limit
U.S. stocks
SPX,
DJIA,
COMP,
finished mostly higher Monday ahead of the debt-ceiling meeting.
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