WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy accused President Joe Biden on Friday of not caring about the budget and debt ceiling enough to hold talks with House Republicans about their differences.
“Unfortunately the President doesn’t think it’s important,” McCarthy told reporters when asked about how talks on the debt ceiling were going.
The two men held one preliminary meeting in February.
Biden and leading Democrats in Congress have urged McCarthy to unveil Republicans’ plans for cutting spending, saying that further meetings before that happens would be fruitless.
Meantime, Republicans want Democrats to signal support for significant spending cuts before they will provide the votes needed in Congress for an increase in the Treasury Department’s borrowing authority.
The government faces a historic default on its debts without legislation being enacted to raise the $31.4 trillion debt limit.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
