Biden, McCarthy to hold pivotal meeting on debt ceiling as time to resolve standoff grows short

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks with members of the press from Capitol Hill on May 21, 2023 after participating in a phone call on the debt ceiling with President Joe Biden.

Patrick Semansky / Patrick Semansky

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are to meet Monday afternoon at the White House at a pivotal moment as Washington works to strike a budget compromise and raise the nation’s borrowing limit in time to avert a potentially chaotic federal default.

Negotiators for the White House met for nearly three hours with McCarthy’s team at the Capitol ahead of the session between the Democratic president and the new Republican speaker that will be critical as they race to prevent a looming debt crisis as soon as next week. The teams wrapped up at noontime, and no further talks were planned before the White House meeting.

After a weekend of start-stop talks, both men have appeared upbeat as they face a deadline, as soon as June 1, when the government could run out of cash to pay its bills.