President Joe Biden and congressional leaders in both parties left Tuesday’s high-stakes meeting on the debt ceiling with no substantive progress in defusing the looming crisis.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters that he “didn’t see any new movement” after the roughly hourlong meeting. The California Republican said that Biden remained unwilling to accept the GOP’s proposed spending cuts in exchange for a debt limit hike, but added that leaders planned to meet again Friday.
Democrats have insisted on a debt ceiling hike without any additional conditions, but Republicans have insisted any increase be hitched to spending cuts. The Treasury Department has warned the federal government could run out of cash by the beginning of June if the debt ceiling is not raised.
