But even sitting down together is seen as a major step forward, because the White House has so far refused to negotiate over the debt ceiling itself and both sides agree a resolution is essential to avoid the unprecedented economic calamity of a default.
“We’ve been clear that he wants to have that conversation about the budget and that he has put forward both a way to reduce the deficit in a way that is responsible with both revenue raisers and spending cuts. So we’re open to spending cuts. We’ve made that clear,” the aide said.in a novel way to circumvent the debt ceiling, as some liberal legal scholars have suggested, the aide said, echoing Biden’s insistence that it is up to Congress alone to raise the borrowing limit.
McCarthy says Republicans will demand something in exchange for their approval to raise the debt ceiling.