The planned debt limit meeting on Friday between President Biden, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the three other congressional leaders has been postponed to early next week to allow aides more time to try to strike a deal.
White House and congressional officials reportedly cast the delay as a sign that the staff talks are making progress in the effort to raise the debt limit and avert a default. McCarthy told reporters that there hasn’t been “enough progress” to meet with Biden tomorrow and that the leaders agreed it would be “more productive” for their staffers to continue their work on both a spending deal and a related increase in the debt limit.
“The spending discussions are also focusing on clawing back unspent Covid-19 funds and capping spending in the upcoming federal fiscal year beginning Oct. 1,” Bloomberg News reported, citing Rep. Garret Graves, a Louisiana Republican who is a close ally of McCarthy’s. Graves reportedly added that the White House is pursuing short-term spending caps while Republicans want a 10-year deal. Any deal would likely also include permitting reforms for energy projects.
