Biden, McCarthy to speak on debt limit; talks stalled as Republicans seek deep spending cuts

HIROSHIMA, Japan — President Joe Biden planned on Sunday to speak directly with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, hoping to salvage talks to raise the debt limit that have stalled in recent days while he was abroad at the Group of Seven summit.

GOP lawmakers are holding tight to demands for sharp spending cuts, rejecting the alternatives proposed by the White House for reducing deficits. Biden and world leaders at the gathering for industrial nations in Japan had been closely tracking the negotiations, looking for signs of a compromise that would ensure the federal government can keep paying its bills and avoid a potentially catastrophic default.

Biden has tried to project optimism even as the talks back in Washington were rocky. Republicans are rejecting a White House plan that would impose less strict cuts while also increasing revenues. The two sides are up against a deadline as soon as June 1 to raise its borrowing limit, now at $31 trillion.

https://www.startribune.com/biden-mccarthy-to-speak-on-debt-limit-talks-stalled-as-republicans-seek-deep-spending-cuts/600276490/