McCarthy says debt negotiations can’t resume until Biden returns

The on-again, off-again debate on Capitol Hill surrounding the debt ceiling resumed, as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters Saturday that Republicans would resume negotiations only when President Joe Biden returns from the Group of Seven summit in Japan.

“Unfortunately, the White House has moved backwards,” McCarthy said of the current debates surrounding the debt ceiling. “I don’t think we can move forward until the president returns to the country,” he added.

Biden is scheduled return Washington, DC from the G-7 summit on Sunday. President said In a press conference from the summit, he said he was not worried about the negotiations and believes “we can avoid a default, we will do something good”.

Negotiations are on hold again, at least for now, McCarthy’s revelation, the latest hurdle facing Congress in the debate over what to do with the outstanding debt ceiling. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said June 1 is the earliest date the U.S. will run out of money to pay off debts the government has already incurred.

Any deal to raise or suspend the debt ceiling must pass both the GOP-led House and the Democratic-controlled Senate, and key lawmakers in both parties have agreed that an eventual compromise bill would be unacceptable to hardliners.

High-level talks on raising the debt ceiling resumed in the Capitol on Friday evening, hours after they were suspended as Republican negotiators stormed out of the room, blaming the White House for stalling the discussions.