Clock ticks as debt ceiling deadline nears
WASHINGTON (Nexstar) -- After a tumultuous weekend of on-again/off-again negotiations, President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy will meet at the White House Monday evening. Ahead of the meeting, though, McCarthy and Biden appeared no closer to striking a deal.
"It's very hard to get them off that spending spree that they're addicted to," McCarthy said.
Biden said he couldn't "guarantee that they wouldn't force a default by doing something outrageous. I can't guarantee that."
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warns that if Congress doesn't agree to raising the debt ceiling the US could see catastrophic consequences.
"It's not an acceptable situation for us to be unable to pay our bills," Yellen said.
Those bills include the ability to pay creditors, US military personnel and Social Security recipients.
A major sticking point is the GOP demand to include more work requirements for people who receive government welfare, such as food stamps and Medicaid.
"We in Congress are willing to pay our debts," said Republican John Joyce of Pennsylvania, "but we have to do that while maintaining fiscal responsibility."
Biden rejects that notion.
"Much of what they've already proposed is quite simply, frankly, unacceptable," the president said.
If the debt ceiling isn't raised, Biden said, millions of jobs could be at risk. The US could become unable to pay its obligations as soon as June 1.