US President Joe Biden said, on Wednesday, that he is proud of the progress that has been achieved in the negotiations to raise the debt ceiling, but indicated that he will not accept any proposal related to citizen health.
In press statements reported by US media prior to his departure to Japan, where he will participate in the G7 summit, the US President said that he will return, on Sunday, to complete negotiations to raise the debt ceiling.
And the US President confirmed that he had reduced the duration of his tour abroad, “so that I would have more time to work with Congress.”
“The negotiations to raise the debt ceiling are related to the budget,” he added.
In addition, Biden indicated that he would meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but revealed that he had decided to reduce the duration of his tour abroad to have more time to work with Congress on the issue of the debt ceiling.
It is noteworthy that Biden, after his meeting Tuesday, with the Speaker of the House, Republican, Kevin McCarthy, at the White House, renewed his criticism of the Republicans, and said: “It is disappointing that the Republicans refuse to raise the volume of revenue.”
The White House said, according to the New York Times, that the meeting was “constructive,” though it acknowledged that there were “a wide range of challenges.”
The White House said that Biden was “optimistic that there is a way to pass a rational, cross-partisan budget, in the event that the two sides agree to negotiate in good faith and recognize that neither side will get everything it wants.”
For his part, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, McCarthy, said that the negotiations had improved “in structure and scope,” but “positions remain divergent on the debt ceiling.”
McCarthy confirmed that he agreed with Biden to continue direct bilateral negotiations on raising the debt ceiling.
McCarthy indicated that negotiations with the White House to raise the debt ceiling witnessed a significant improvement after today’s meeting.
On Tuesday, Biden met with Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress (House of Representatives and Senate) to complete a political back-and-forth process that began weeks ago to raise the debt ceiling and avoid default, a benefit that could become a reality within two weeks.
Democrats and Republicans are sharply divided on this issue.
Democrats are calling for a “clean” increase in the public borrowing ceiling, and they accuse Republicans of trying to exploit this usually routine procedure for political ends.
For their part, the Republicans require Biden’s approval at the beginning of a significant reduction in budget expenditures in order to agree to raise the debt ceiling, which will allow the government to borrow more money.
