Biden 'confident' US will avoid default as deadline looms

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - US President Joe Biden said Wednesday he is "confident" his team and congressional leaders will strike a deal to ensure the country does not default on its national debt.

As he prepares to leave Washington for a meeting of the leaders of the world's richest democracies in Japan, Biden said the latest round of talks, held Tuesday, were "civil and respectful" and "productive."

"Every leader in the room understands the consequences if we fail to pay our bills, and it would be catastrophic for the American economy and the American people if we didn't pay our bills," he told reporters before departing for the G-7 summit in Hiroshima.

"We're going to come together, because there's no alternative. We have to do the right thing for the country. We have to move on. And to be clear, this negotiation is about the outlines of what the budget will look like, not about whether or not we're, in fact, going to pay our debts. The leaders all agree we will not default," he said.

The US is facing a June 1 deadline to raise the debt ceiling, -- the amount the country is legally allowed to borrow -- or face a default that would send shockwaves through the global economy.

Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy has demanded that any agreement to raise the debt limit be paired with budget cuts he and his caucus has long sought.

Negotiations are slated to continue Wednesday with Biden and McCarthy each selecting senior members of their teams to negotiate on their behalf to strike a final deal.

Biden, however, is near certain to cut short his trip, nixing a planned stop in Australia and Papua New Guinea that were supposed to follow his Japan visit. He would have been the first US president to visit Papua New Guinea.

The president now intends to return Sunday to the US and hold a news conference on the negotiations.