![]() House and Senate Republicans, meanwhile, have said they will not authorize any additional borrowing without an agreement to cut future spending.Īdding to the urgency, Biden is scheduled to leave on May 18 for an annual meeting of leaders of the Group of Seven major industrialized nations, though he said he would cancel that trip if needed to work on a debt limit deal. “I told congressional leaders I’m prepared to begin a separate discussion about my budget.”īiden and opposition Republicans have been locked in a standoff for months over the debt ceiling, with Democrats calling for a “clean” increase without conditions to pay debts resulting from spending and tax cuts approved by Congress. “Default is not an option,” Biden told reporters after Tuesday’s meeting. Democrats see it as boosting the development of “clean” power projects.Īides for Biden, McCarthy, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell, and top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries were expected to meet Wednesday afternoon and again Thursday, May 11, before a meeting on Friday, May 12, Biden has called with the four congressional leaders. Republicans have not endorsed that bill but say permitting reforms would help the US maintain its edge in oil and gas development. Meanwhile, the White House reiterated its backing for legislation speeding government permitting of energy projects by setting maximum timelines.Ī White House fact sheet distributed on Wednesday said the administration “supports the important reforms” contained in a bill by Democratic Senator Joe Manchin. He added that Republicans in the House of Representatives were unlikely to win the scope of budget cuts they have proposed, but that a middle ground could be found to slow what he called Democrats’ “spending binge.”ĭeep disagreements remained over competing pressures for spending cuts versus tax increases.īiden signaled an openness to Republicans’ demand to claw back some unused money for COVID-19 relief, which is less than $80 billion. “Sounds to me like the dance has begun,” said Republican Representative Frank Lucas. Some lawmakers were upbeat about the start of negotiations. She noted that April is one of the few times the Treasury records a surplus “and yet a $176-billion surplus will matter very little when we’re borrowing $4.2 billion per day this fiscal year.” Meager tax revenue is exactly the kind of news we don’t need right now,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the nonprofit Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. “If lawmakers ever needed a wake-up call, this is it. The standoff has rattled investors, sending the cost of insuring exposure to US government debt to record highs, as Wall Street grows more concerned about the risks of an unprecedented default.Īlso on Wednesday, the Treasury Department announced that government tax receipts for April confirm a recent trend of declining revenue, which, coupled with higher outlays, likely adds to pressure on Congress to reach a debt limit deal promptly. But some areas of potential compromise emerged after a White House meeting on Tuesday, May 9. Time is tight to avoid a historic, economically destabilizing default on government debt, which the Treasury Department has warned could come as soon as June 1. ![]() ![]() WASHINGTON, USA – Detailed talks on raising the US government’s $31.4-trillion debt ceiling kicked off on Wednesday, May 10, with Republicans continuing to insist on spending cuts, the day after Democratic President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy’s first meeting in three months. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |