The chef des républicains à la Chambre des présentants, Kevin McCarthy, affirmed that jeudi entrevoir “une percée” dans les pourparlers pour éviter un défaut de paiement des Etats-Unis, suggesting that a vote sur le plafond de la dette serait possible des la next week. The government expects the federal debt ceiling to be reached on June 1.
This raises fears that the world’s largest economy will default on its nearly $32 trillion debt. This would unleash a catastrophic storm on world markets. “We’re not there, we haven’t agreed to anything yet, but I see a breakthrough where we could come to an agreement,” the House speaker said in his most optimistic assessment yet of the impasse between Republicans in Congress and the House. Democratic President Joe Biden. . “I think we now have a framework and everyone is working hard,” added the Republican leader.
Kevin McCarthy won the House speaker’s gavel in January by promising the far-right fringe of his party that any increase in the debt limit would only be accompanied by deep cuts in federal spending. The Democrats, for their part, point out that the debt ceiling has been raised dozens of times without budget negotiations and accuse the Republicans of holding the US economy “hostage”.
Two new negotiators
Congressional leaders have held two rounds of talks with Joe Biden, but time is running out for the legislation to pass Congress before coffers run out. Any deal must be approved by the Republican-led House and the Democratic-majority Senate before the deadline. But Kevin McCarthy explained that he estimated that the House would need four days, while the senators could pass a bill in seven days. “I’ve always said before that it would be important to try to have a deal, especially in principle, for this weekend,” he added.
The White House brought in two new negotiators this week to represent Joe Biden in the high-stakes talks: presidential aide Steve Ricchetti and Office of the Budget (OMB) director Shalanda Young, a former House staffer. “I have the utmost respect for Shalanda and for Ricchetti. I mean they are exceptionally competent,” MKevin McCarthy said. “They have strong democratic beliefs” but “work very professionally,” she added.
Some Senate Democrats are urging Joe Biden to invoke, without congressional approval, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. This establishes that “the validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, (…) must not be questioned”, that is to say, that it must be possible to honor the expenditure already voted. Previous administrations have been reluctant to use this provision which, if challenged in court, could undermine the trust and credit of the United States.
Source: BFM TV
