Biden says debt default 'not an option' after 'productive' lawmaker meeting

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - President Joe Biden ruled out Tuesday the possibility of the US defaulting on its national debt, with talks slated to continue with congressional leaders after a "productive" meeting.

Biden said he made clear during his meeting with House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that defaulting on the US's debt is "not an option."

“America is not a deadbeat nation. We pay our bills," Biden told reporters at the White House following an hour-long discussion with congressional leaders. "This nation has never defaulted on its debt. It never will."

Biden said McConnell, the Senate's top Republican, assured him during the closed-door talks that "the United States is not going to default." That leaves McCarthy, the House's top Republican, as the sole impediment to raising the debt limit and avoiding an economic catastrophe that would send shockwaves around the world.

The US is slated to run out of funds to pay its bills on June 1 if Congress does not raise the debt ceiling, or the amount the federal government is allowed to borrow. McCarthy has insisted that in exchange for doing so, Democrats and the president would have to agree to sweeping budget cuts.

Biden has refused to accept this, saying the cuts McCarthy is proposing "could not possibly pass anywhere in the Congress" and is "dead on arrival." The president has insisted on a "clean" debt ceiling bill, maintaining that budget discussions should be dealt with separately.

McCarthy said after the meeting that he would absolutely not decouple the debt ceiling from the cuts he is seeking, noting that he "didn't see any new movement" during Tuesday's negotiations.

"The president said the staffs should get back together, but I was very clear with the president: we have now just two weeks to go," he said. "The president has waited 97 days without ever meeting. Every day I asked 'could we meet?' And he said 'no.'"

Biden and lawmakers are slated to meet again Friday as they seek to iron out a deal to avoid certain financial catastrophe.