(C) Common Dreams
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Biden and McCarthy Discuss Debt Limit as Financial Crisis Looms [1]
['Jim Tankersley', 'Catie Edmondson', 'Zolan Kanno-Youngs']
Date: 2023-02-01
WASHINGTON — President Biden told Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday that there was room for discussion about addressing America’s deficit, even as he insisted that Congress would have to pass a debt-limit increase with no strings attached to avoid a financial cataclysm.
Mr. Biden and Mr. McCarthy met at the White House for more than an hour in a discussion that carried high stakes, with the federal government set to exhaust its ability to pay its bills on time as early as June.
Republicans have refused to raise the statutory debt limit unless Mr. Biden accepts deep cuts in federal spending. The president has said repeatedly that he expects Congress to raise the borrowing cap with no conditions — and that he will not negotiate conditions for an increase.
After the meeting, the White House said Mr. Biden repeated to Mr. McCarthy that he would not negotiate on the limit. But the president did say he welcomes a “separate discussion with congressional leaders about how to reduce the deficit and control the national debt while continuing to grow the economy,” according to a White House summary of the meeting.
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[1] Url:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/01/us/politics/biden-mccarthy-debt-limit.html
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