While there is still no agreement to avoid a payment default by the United States 15 days before the deadline, the president received the Republican and Democratic leaders of Congress on Tuesday. There is clearly still work to be done, so much so that the Joe Biden is reorganizing his agenda.
With our correspondent in Washington, Guillaume Naudin
Joe Biden will not see Australia and Papua New Guinea next week. The president shortens his tour in the Indo-Pacific and will be satisfied with the G7 in Japan. The goal is to be back in Washington on Sunday. This is the most concrete consequence of this Tuesday’s meeting.
For the rest, the positions are still distant, except on one point: an American debt default is unthinkable, contrary to what Donald Trump suggested a week ago. There, everyone agrees, including Kevin McCarthy.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives is willing to raise the debt ceiling, provided he obtains concessions from the state budget. Joe Biden and the Democrats did not want to couple the two, that is ultimately what will happen. Negotiations will continue directly between the president’s teams and those of the Republican majority in the chamber. Kevin McCarthy even believes that an agreement by the end of the week is possible.
Joe Biden himself said to himself ” optimistic said the White House. “ There is still work to be done on several difficult issues, but (US President) is optimistic ” as to the conclusion of a “ reasonable budget agreement “, according to a press release from the American executive
One of the hard points of the negotiation lies in the counterparties requested from the beneficiaries of federal social aid. It’s a red flag for the left of the Democratic Party. But it is clearly less frightening than the warnings from the business community about the potentially catastrophic consequences of defaulting on payment.
►Also read: Debt ceiling: US could be in default as early as June 1