WASHINGTON, USA – US President Joe Biden on Monday, May 1, summoned the four top congressional leaders to the White House next week after the Treasury warned the government could run short of cash to pay its bills by June.
Biden called Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Jerusalem, where he is on a diplomatic trip, to invite him to a May 9 White House meeting. The two leaders haven’t sat down to discuss the issue since February. A White House official said Biden, who had previously said he wouldn’t meet McCarthy at all to discuss the debt limit, would “stress that Congress must take action to avoid default without conditions” on May 9.
After hitting the $31.4-trillion borrowing cap on January 19, Yellen previously told Congress that Treasury would keep up payments on debt, federal benefits, and make other spending by using extraordinary cash management measures. One such step Treasury is taking is suspending the sales of securities that state and local governments use to temporarily hold cash.
Budget analyst Shai Akabas at the Bipartisan Policy Center said the short deadline underscored the urgency of finding a solution to the bitter standoff, and that it dashed hopes that the Congress could negotiate through the late summer months.