Biden meets with McCarthy as debt ceiling deadline nears

WASHINGTON (TND) — President Joe Biden is set to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other congressional leaders to discuss the debt limit today. This comes on the heels of what we're learning in the first quarter of the year that the US government spent nearly a trillion dollars in interest payments.

Former White House economic adviser Steve Moore joined The National Desk’s Jan Jeffcoat Tuesday to break it down.

“Joe Biden has already basically said this is a non-negotiation meeting. So a lot of us are scratching our heads saying you know, what's the point of this if you're not going to negotiate by this position as he will not negotiate on the debt ceiling?” He said. “I think there are what are called extraordinary measures that the Treasury secretary can take to allow the government to continue to borrow for at least a few another number of weeks or months, but we'll see what happens. Eventually, Joe Biden is going to have to negotiate with the Republicans on this.”

The House passed the GOP debt ceiling bill by Speaker McCarthy in April which raises the debt ceiling while also cutting spending by 14 percent.

“Kevin McCarthy got 218 votes for a bill that raises the debt ceiling but also has various conditions like work requirements for welfare and producing more American energy and it puts a cap on government spending,” he said. “It actually reduces the debt forecast over the next 10 years by $4 trillion. So right now, they're just ramming heads, but I don't think we're gonna see any big announcement coming out of today.”