US President Joe Biden said he would speak directly with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and expressed hope that a "deal" could be reached on the US debt crisis.
On May 21, US President Joe Biden criticized the Republican Party's proposals related to the public debt crisis as "unacceptable," in the context that the country is facing the risk of default.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Japan, President Biden stressed: "Now is the time for the other side (Republicans) to abandon their extreme stance, because much of what they have proposed is simply unacceptable."
President Biden said he would speak directly with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and expressed hope that a "deal" could be reached on the vexing issue.
However, he also warned that the administration cannot guarantee avoiding a government default scenario.
President Biden added that he is considering a constitutional provision in the 14th Amendment that states “the validity of the public debt of the United States shall not be questioned,” and the possibility of giving the president the power to raise the debt ceiling.
The US Treasury Department said the government could run out of money and default on its $31 trillion debt on June 1 if the bicameral Congress, in which Republicans control the House of Representatives, does not allow the government to raise the debt ceiling so it can borrow more.
President Biden had planned to visit Papua New Guinea and Australia after the G7 summit in Japan, but he cut short his trip to Asia to return to the US to deal with the debt crisis.
On May 19, the negotiation process on the US government's debt ceiling reached a deadlock after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy blamed the White House for not taking action to cut spending.
Republicans say the debt ceiling cannot be raised without strong measures to reduce the budget deficit .
These measures, they say, include cutting spending on Social Security and limiting access to Medicaid, the subsidized program that provides health care to the poor.
Meanwhile, President Biden's administration has resisted the measures, instead proposing to cut some spending and raise taxes on the richest people and corporations that currently enjoy large tax breaks.
Republicans refuse to accept this tax increase./.
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