US House speaker says Republicans could act on their own on debt ceiling

(Adds quote, details and background) WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Thursday that he and other Republican lawmakers could act on their own to address the $31.4 trillion U.S. government debt ceiling, if Democratic President Joe Biden keeps rejecting negotiations on spending.

(Adds quote, details and background) WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) -

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Thursday that he and other Republican lawmakers could act on their own to address the $31.4 trillion U.S. government debt ceiling, if Democratic President Joe Biden keeps rejecting negotiations on spending. Biden, a Democrat, has insisted that he will not negotiate with Republicans who control the House of Representatives until they produce their own fiscal 2024 spending plan and raise the government borrowing limit without conditions.

McCarthy said his Republican majority in the House of Representatives was close to agreement on a plan that would tackle the debt ceiling and address their priorities for lowering spending. Biden's Democrats have a slim majority in the U.S. Senate. "If the president doesn't act, we will," McCarthy told reporters at a news conference.

On Tuesday, McCarthy urged Biden in a letter to negotiate on domestic spending, including clawing back unspent COVID-19 relief funds and making other changes McCarthy said would save trillions of dollars. Biden

responded with a letter urging McCarthy to specify his spending proposals.