US President Joe Biden and congressional leaders will likely resume talks on Tuesday at the White House over the debt limit, the president said on Sunday, as the nation continues to edge closer to its legal borrowing authority with no agreement in sight.
The meeting was initially supposed to be on Friday, but was abruptly postponed so staff-level talks could continue before Biden and the four congressional leaders huddled for a second time. Administration and congressional officials said on Sunday that a meeting has not been finalised, although Tuesday was the likeliest option as Biden returns to Washington on Monday and is scheduled to leave for the Group of 7 summit in Japan on Wednesday.
Biden did not detail much progress in the talks, but said he remained hopeful that an agreement could be reached with Republicans to avoid what would be an unprecedented debt default, which could trigger a financial catastrophe.
“I remain optimistic because I am a congenital optimist,” Biden told reporters while out for a bike ride in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. “But I really think there is a desire on their part as well as ours to reach an agreement. I think we will be able to do it.”
Aides said talks had continued throughout the weekend. But at least publicly, there was little indication that either the White House or House Republicans had budged from their initial positions. Biden has called on lawmakers to lift the debt limit without preconditions, warning that the nation’s borrowing authority should not be used to impose deep spending cuts and other conservative policy demands.
“We have not reached the crunch point yet,” Biden told reporters on Saturday before flying to his beach home for the weekend. “There is real discussion about some changes we all could make. We are not there yet.” On Sunday, senior administration officials said the talks among staff had so far been productive after Biden and the leaders ended their first meeting last Tuesday without a breakthrough.