Biden, McCarthy to meet as debt limit showdown enters critical week

President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) are scheduled to meet at the White House on Monday as Washington enters a critical week in the debt ceiling showdown.

The meeting is taking place after talks paused — then resumed — Friday, a sign that the two sides remain far apart on how to increase the borrowing limit. Biden and McCarthy had a phone conversation Sunday that the Speaker described as “productive,” and White House and Republican negotiators met later in the day to prepare for Monday’s meeting.

But with 10 days to go until June 1 — the date when Treasury Department Secretary Janet Yellen has said the U.S. could default on its debt — pressure is on lawmakers and the White House to come to an agreement on how to raise the debt ceiling.

The House this week is slated to consider two disapproval resolutions targeting Biden administration policies related to trucking emissions and student loans; the Senate is out of session this week.

McCarthy, Biden to meet on debt limit as clock ticks

Monday’s meeting between Biden and McCarthy will kick off a high-stakes week in Washington as the clock ticks toward what could be the first default in U.S. history.

Biden and McCarthy spoke on the phone Sunday as the president was traveling back to the U.S. from attending the Group of Seven meeting in Japan, a conversation Biden said “went well” and McCarthy dubbed as “productive.” Later in the day, White House and GOP negotiators met in the Capitol to prepare for Monday’s meeting of the principals.

Monday’s huddle comes after days of discussions between White House aides and GOP lawmakers chosen by Biden and McCarthy, respectively, to conduct negotiations behind the scenes. But those talks hit a snag in recent days.

Talks paused Friday morning — Rep. Garret Graves (La.), the lead GOP negotiator, said the White House was being “unreasonable” — then reconvened in the evening with a “candid discussion,” according to Graves. Negotiators did not meet in the Capitol on Saturday, then huddled again Sunday night.

Ahead of Sunday’s meeting, Graves said that while progress had been made since discussions first began, Saturday marked “a huge setback.”

“There has been a lot of progress that has been made in discussions,” Graves told reporters in the Capitol on Sunday. “If you go through the laundry list of perhaps 50 items, we have made a lot of progress and understanding one another’s positions, understanding red lines. And so I think that we have really been able to come close to, much closer than we were when we started.”

“Yesterday was a huge setback,” he added.

McCarthy on Sunday said the meeting that night among the negotiators was meant to set the scene for Monday’s meeting between the Speaker and Biden.

“The agreement would be, let’s get our teams back together so everybody clearly understands what we’re talking about, what they’re talking about. Let them brief up the president, let him get some sleep and then he wanted to get together personally tomorrow, and I agreed to that. We’ll do that tomorrow afternoon sometime and see where it goes,” McCarthy said

The Speaker told reporters that he and the president talked through some specific matters during their phone call Sunday.

“He walked through some of the things that he’s still looking at, he’s hearing from his members. I walked through things that I’m looking at. What I’m looking at are, where our differences are and how could we solve those, and I felt that part was productive,” McCarthy said.

“But look, there’s no agreement, we’re still apart,” he noted.

Staff meetings Sunday and a huddle between Biden and McCarthy on Monday, however, marked a positive development, the Speaker said.

“Look, from a perspective, our teams are talking, and we’re setting to have a meeting tomorrow — that’s better than it was earlier, so yes,” he told reporters when asked if was more hopeful after talking to the president.

Biden and McCarthy will meet Monday as attention remains fixated on June 1. That leaves lawmakers and the White House just 10 days to strike a deal.

Biden told reporters Sunday that if they do not come to an agreement, he does believe he has the authority to use the 14th Amendment to address the debt ceiling — as some Democrats are urging him to do — but noted that because of the legal challenges that could follow, the country would likely still plunge into default.

“I’m looking at the 14th Amendment as to whether or not we have the authority — I think we have the authority,” Biden told reporters at a press conference in Hiroshima, Japan. “The question is, could it be done and invoked in time that it would not be appealed, and as a consequence past the date in question and still default on the debt. That is a question that I think is unresolved.”

House to take up disapproval resolutions

The House this week is slated to consider disapproval resolutions for Biden administration policies pertaining to trucking emissions and student loans.

The first measure, which has already passed the Senate, seeks to override a rule the Biden administration adopted in December 2022 that established stronger emissions standards in an effort to reduce air pollution from heavy-duty trucks. Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), the sponsor of the measure, argued that the measure would “drive up costs for consumers, increase vehicle costs, and hurt good-paying jobs.”

The Senate approved the resolution in a 50-49 vote last month, sending it to the House for consideration. Biden has issued a veto threat.

The second disapproval resolution on the docket this week targets Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan. It seeks to overturn Biden’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 for borrowers with federal loans — a measure which is currently held up in the Supreme Court.

The House this week may also attempt to override Biden’s veto of a disapproval resolution Congress passed that seeks to overturn the president’s two-year suspension of tariffs on solar imports from four Southeast Asian countries. Biden vetoed the resolution last week, after both chambers approved the measure on a bipartisan basis.