Biden, McCarthy launch high-stakes U.S. debt ceiling talks as clock ticks to default

Few countries in the world have debt ceiling laws, and Washington's periodic lifting of the borrowing limit merely allows it to pay for spending Congress has already authorized. Biden would agree to a separate discussion on the budget but not tied to the debt ceiling, the White House said.

President Joe Biden and top lawmakers met face-to-face on Tuesday as a deadlock over raising the $31.4 trillion U.S. debt limit threatened to push the country into an unprecedented default in as soon as three weeks if Congress does not act. Biden, a Democrat, told reporters he would not make comments as House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, sat in the Oval Office after both sides suggested they would not agree to concessions to head off a default as early as June 1.

"We're going to get started and solve all the world's problems," Biden quipped, declining to take reporters' questions or to offer his guests an opportunity to speak. The leaders were grouped along party lines, with McCarthy sitting silently on one couch with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell. Top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries was joined by fellow Democrat Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on the opposite couch. Biden sat in a chair between them.

Biden was joined for the talks by five senior aides, including Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, budget director Shalanda Young and longtime adviser Steve Ricchetti, according to the White House. The congressional leaders each brought a single aide of their own. Economists warn that a lengthy default could send the American economy into a deep recession with soaring unemployment while destabilizing a global financial system built on U.S. bonds. Investors are bracing for impact.

Biden is calling on lawmakers to raise the federal government's self-imposed borrowing limit without conditions. McCarthy has said his chamber will not approve any deal that doesn't cut spending to address a growing budget deficit and signaled that he doesn't see a short-term fix. Past debt ceiling fights have typically ended with a hastily arranged agreement in the final hours of negotiations, thus avoiding a default. In 2011, the scramble prompted a historic downgrade of the country's top-notch credit rating. Veterans of that battle warn the current situation is riskier because political divides have widened.

Tuesday's meeting was likely to be closely watched ahead of what's expected to be an increasingly fraught period in Washington, ahead of June, when the U.S. Treasury predicts the country could be forced to default on some debts. McCarthy, whose party holds only a slim majority in the House, wants to tie a vote on the debt ceiling to broad spending cuts the White House considers draconian.

Biden's meeting with the speaker was their first since Feb. 1. Earlier Tuesday, McCarthy and the White House separately appeared to close the door to a short-term solution that's been widely discussed on Capitol Hill: lifting the debt ceiling through September to allow more time for agreement.

Before the Oval Office meeting, McConnell said Biden should look for middle ground with McCarthy. "Sit down with the speaker, strike a deal," he said on the Senate floor on Tuesday. INVESTORS, CEOS WATCH MEETING CLOSELY

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation's largest business association, on Tuesday urged a "swift" bipartisan agreement on the debt limit that would also include energy project permitting reform and an agreement on discretionary spending caps. Few countries in the world have debt ceiling laws, and Washington's periodic lifting of the borrowing limit merely allows it to pay for spending Congress has already authorized.

Biden would agree to a separate discussion on the budget but not tied to the debt ceiling, the White House said. The start of active talks could soothe the nerves of investors who last week forced the federal government to pay its highest interest ever for a one-month debt issue.

Prices for short-term Treasury bills fell on Tuesday as investors sold off debt that could come due around the time the U.S. debt limit could be hit. Biden's foreign travel plans and House and Senate recesses mean there are just seven days when all three parties are scheduled to be in town before June 1.

On Tuesday, Biden added a stop in Papua, New Guinea, on May 22 to his itinerary that includes Japan and Australia, but the addition was not expected to lengthen his May 19-24 trip to Asia. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Monday said a failure to raise the debt limit would hurt the U.S. economy and weaken the dollar as the world's reserve currency. Treasury cash is dwindling as the extraordinary measures it is taking are exhausted.

White House officials have discussed whether Biden has the authority to lift the debt limit on his own by invoking the U.S. Constitution's 14th amendment, but Biden told MSNBC last week that "I've not gotten there yet" on this argument. The 14th amendment says the validity of the public debt of the United States "shall not be questioned." Invoking it could trigger a legal challenge.