Schumer speaks to the media during a meeting with Japanese legislature member Toshimitsu Motegi in his office at the US Capitol in Washington DC on Monday, May 1, 2023.
“It is impossible to predict with certainty the exact date when Treasury will be unable to pay the government’s bills, and I will continue to update Congress in the coming weeks as more information becomes available,” she wrote, urging Congress to act quickly to raise the limit. A person familiar with the plans told Reuters that Biden called Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Jerusalem, as well as House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Republican leader Mitch McConnell and invited them to a meeting on May 9 to talk about the debt ceiling and federal spending.
The Republican bill would implement US$4.5 trillion in spending cuts – or about 22% – in exchange for a US$1.5 trillion increase in the US debt limit. It has no chance of passing the Democrat-controlled Senate and the White House has said Biden would veto the legislation.