McCarthy, Biden Agree to Sit Down as Debt Ceiling Crisis Looms

 McCarthy, Biden Agree to Sit Down as Debt Ceiling Crisis Looms

A precarious partisan battle is threatening the first-ever default on the national debt.

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 29: U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy attends a meeting with US President Joe Biden (R) and other Congressional Leaders to discuss legislative priorities through the end of 2022, at the White House on November 29, 2022 in Washington, DC. Biden met with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), Vice President Kamala Harris, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and others to discuss legislative priorities for the rest of the year. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy attends a meeting with US President Joe Biden (R) and other Congressional Leaders to discuss legislative priorities through the end of 2022, at the White House on November 29, 2022 in Washington, DC.(KEVIN DIETSCH/GETTY IMAGES)

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Friday agreed to meet with President Joe Biden amid heightened economic concerns as the government reached its borrowing limit a day earlier.

“President Biden: I accept your invitation to sit down and discuss a responsible debt ceiling increase to address irresponsible government spending,” McCarthy wrote in a tweet.

The commitment came after Biden earlier in the day told a group of mayors assembled at the White House that despite stated opposition to negotiations on the debt ceiling, he would hold talks with the GOP leader on the national debt, warning that if the nation does not meet its obligations it will face a “calamity that exceeds anything that’s ever happened financially in the United States.”

The comments came after the Treasury Department on Thursday resorted to “extraordinary measures” to extend the date that it’s expected to run out of money. And although the measures are expected to hold until early summer, a precarious partisan battle threatens the first-ever default on the national debt.

After some Republicans expressed interest in using the new GOP House majority to seek spending cuts while leveraging the potential default, Democrats have warned of reckless “political brinkmanship,” while the White House has remained adamant that addressing the debt limit should be done in a bipartisan manner “without conditions” and is holding firm to its "no negotiations" stance.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed on Friday that Biden will soon meet with McCarthy on “a range of issues” – a point the White House later reiterated in a statement. She added that the president is “looking forward to meeting with Speaker McCarthy,” while noting that the president’s position about negotiations related to the debt ceiling remains firm.

“It is a basic responsibility that Congress has to deal with the debt ceiling,” she said. “We have been clear on this, the president has been clear on this: It should not be used as a political weapon.”

Meanwhile, Biden said he would address what he called “the big debate” – a disagreement about taxing and spending priorities like Social Security – during his State of the Union address next month.