By Ovunc Kutlu
ISTANBUL (AA) - US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy sent a letter Tuesday to the White House, urging President Joe Biden to begin negotiations on the nation's debt ceiling.
McCarthy said he and Biden sat down two months ago to discuss a solution to the debt ceiling but argued the president's team has been absent since and accused Biden of being "completely missing in action."
"With each passing day, I am incredibly concerned that you are putting an already fragile economy in jeopardy by insisting upon your extreme position of refusing to negotiate any meaningful changes to out-of-control government spending alongside an increase of the debt limit," wrote McCarthy.
He offered ways to reduce the national debt, such as decreasing excessive non-defense government spending to levels before high inflation and reclaiming unspent funds for the coronavirus pandemic that have not been touched for more than two years.
"Mr. President, simply put: you are on the clock," wrote McCarthy, and he asked Biden to reach out by end of the week.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in recent months has repeatedly urged Congress to suspend or raise the debt limit to avoid a default on government obligations.
The world's biggest economy hit its debt ceiling Jan. 19 and Yellen said her agency has started using "extraordinary measures" to avoid default.
The US has never defaulted on its debt, while the debt ceiling has been raised 22 times between 1997 and 2022.