By Efe
The president, Joe Biden, was confident this Saturday in the possibility of reaching an agreement with the Republican opposition to suspend the debt ceiling; When asked by the press, he said: "I still believe that the suspension of payments can be avoided."
Biden made the remarks in response to questions from the press at the beginning of his meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the sidelines of the G7 summit being held from yesterday until Sunday in the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
After the opening statements of the two leaders, a reporter asked Biden if he was worried about negotiations with Republicans, to which he replied: "Not at all."
President Joe Biden at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Saturday, May 20, 2023.Susan Walsh/AP
Biden said that this type of negotiations occurs "in phases," so if the first meetings are not productive, the following ones are, and then the negotiating teams go back to the beginning to put their ideas on the table.
The exchange with the press was brief, but it had a conflicting element. The US president silenced an Australian journalist who was trying to ask him when he was talking about the debt ceiling negotiations.
"Please shut up," Biden told him.
The United States has never defaulted on the national debt, but from time to time it looks at that possibility because, unlike other countries, its Executive can only issue debt up to the limit established by Congress, which has the power to suspend that ceiling as it sees fit.
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The current limit of $31.4 trillion was reached last January. Currently, the government is drawing money in its reserves to pay the debts it has incurred, but the Treasury Department estimates that those reserves will be exhausted on June 1, at which point the US would enter into default.
While the president is in Hiroshima for the G7, talks between the White House and Republicans have continued in Washington with the intention of reaching an agreement before June 1.
According to the White House, the US president received this Saturday around 10:00 am (local time) an update on the status of the negotiations, which had run into problems in recent hours. These were suspended for a few hours on Friday after a meeting without significant progress, resumed in the evening, and there was also little progress.
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Republicans want cuts in government spending, but Biden opposes it. "We can't be spending any more money next year," House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Friday, striking a pessimistic tone about the course of negotiations. "We must spend less than the previous year. It's pretty easy," he added.
