WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden will continue talks with congressional leaders on the nation’s debt limit later this week and will meet with them again after the G7 summit, the White House said on Wednesday one day after an hour-long meeting seen as productive.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, in interviews on MSNBC and CNN, said Biden would speak with top lawmakers by telephone during his trip to the Group of Seven gathering in Japan as negotiations over the U.S. debt ceiling continue.
“The president is looking forward to having conversations with the congressional leader on the phone and meeting with them again when he comes back from overseas,” she told MSNBC.
Asked on CNN if Biden wanted the debt limit agreement to cover payments through 2025, Jean-Pierre declined to answer.
She also did not detail where negotiations were over work requirements for two key programs that provide food and cash aid to families that Republicans want to see included as part of a deal.
“The Republican proposals – they want to cut health care, they want to increase poverty, and it’s not going to save much money,” she told CNN, adding that daily staff talks between both sides were expected to continue.
Biden, a Democrat, on Tuesday called his meeting with House Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the White House productive and postponed plans to visit Papua New Guinea and Australia, cutting short his Asia trip so he can return to Washington.
While the United States still sees the Indo-Pacific region as a key global alliance, “the other message too, is that …America does not default on its debt,” Jean-Pierre told CNN.
“He’s optimistic that we’ll get to a reasonable, bipartisan budget deal that can get to his desk next week that he can sign,” she added.
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