President Joe Biden has asked to speak with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy once his meetings conclude in Japan, in hopes of helping to put negotiations to raise the US debt ceiling -- which have appeared mostly stalled since Friday -- back on track.
On Saturday afternoon, McCarthy said negotiators wouldn't be able to resume talks with the administration until Biden was back in Washington.
"Unfortunately, the White House moved backwards," the California Republican said. "I don't think we're going to be able to move forward until the President can get back."
Biden has been traveling overseas to attend the Group of 7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, since leaving Washington on Wednesday. Biden is slated to fly back to DC on Sunday, a shortened version of his trip that originally had stops in Australia and Papua New Guinea before Biden cut the final legs amid debt ceiling talks.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned the US could default on its debts as soon as June 1.
Biden asked his team to coordinate with the speaker to arrange the conversation on Sunday morning Eastern Time, which would be the two men's first conversation since debt talks appeared to stall amid disputes over spending limits.
Biden received an update from his team on the status of negotiations both Saturday night and Sunday morning in Japan, a White House official told the press pool traveling with Biden.
"President Biden has continued to closely track negotiations on a bipartisan budget framework and the pressing need for Congress to act to avert default," the official said.
Republicans have been seeking spending cuts in the federal budget in exchange for their support to raise the nation's borrowing limit. Republican Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota confirmed on Saturday that the White House made an offer this morning seeking to cap future spending at current levels, which Johnson called "unreasonable."
Johnson, a McCarthy ally and chair of the centrist Main Street Caucus, is one of several key players who has been getting briefed by Republican negotiators on the talks.
"Negotiations did not go well today," Johnson said. "The paper that the White House provided was a major step backward. And it undermined all the progress that was made Wednesday and Thursday. ... It has endangered negotiations."
Johnson warned, "We are at real risk of default."
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre released a statement Saturday evening railing against the latest debt ceiling proposal from Republican negotiators, calling it a "big step back" as she repeatedly castigated "extreme partisan demands."
"Last night in DC, the Speaker's team put on the table an offer that was a big step back and contained a set of extreme partisan demands that could never pass both Houses of Congress," Jean-Pierre said.
