Debt Ceiling: Deal possible by end of week, McCarthy says; Biden cuts short upcoming foreign trip
continue with an encouraging new phase today. Lawmakers rushing to negotiate a deal to a verdict unprecedented national default. W. D. and Shannon Hale again has the latest. Congress has just a few days when the House and Senate are in session to pass legislation. Recesses could be canceled, but both Democratic and Republican leaders appeared more optimistic today about striking a deal.
New movement Tuesday to raise the debt limit. Following a meeting with President Joe Biden, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said top negotiators have been brought in. Appoint somebody from the president's team who can work with the speaker's team to see if we could come to an agreement. That is what the decision was made in this meeting. So the structure of how we negotiate has improved. So it now gives you a better opportunity. This, as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned again that the U.
S. could run out of cash to keep paying the nation's bills as early as June 1st. A U.S. default would generate an economic and financial catastrophe. Avoiding default was something both sides agreed on. Because default is not an option.
Everyone agreed that that was the case. A default would be a disaster for the American people. President Biden cut his upcoming overseas trip short in hopes of closing out a deal before the end of the month. How seriously the president takes this priority about defaulting on the national debt and what that says about the United States not just here at home but around the world and how that can affect our own international reputation. Because there's countries like Russia and China that would love nothing more than for us to default. So they could point the finger and say you see the United States is not a stable reliable partner. Republicans want the president to accept their proposal to roll back spending, cap future expenditures, and make other policy changes in the package passed last month in the House.
But the current bill wouldn't pass in the Senate or be signed by the president. There was agreement Tuesday that negotiations though could be made. It was a much more cordial meeting. There were honest and real discussions about differences that we have on a whole variety of issues. But it was all respectful and that was a good sign as well, especially with the help from other negotiators. Just finally, as speakers pointed out, the president's agreed to designate somebody to be the lead. President Biden is set to travel to Japan for the G7 summit.
He's scheduled to return to Washington on Sunday. Speaker McCarthy said today, though, that a deal was possible by the end of the week. In the newsroom, Shannon Halligan, WGN News.
video, news, wgntv news, wgntv chicago