U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced Friday that negotiations on the debt ceiling with the White House have been paused. He also called on President Joe Biden to agree to cut spending.
McCarthy told reporters that they have to cut back on spending next year.
The president is on his way to the G7 summit in the United States and the June 1 deadline for debt ceilings is less than two weeks off.
A White House official confirmed that negotiations had stopped on Friday.
A White House official stated that “there are real differences in the budget issues between the parties and discussions will be difficult.” The President’s team works hard to find a bipartisan solution that can be approved by both the House and Senate.
This snag occurs just days after House Speaker, John Boehner, sounded confident that a deal would be reached by the end of the week.
When asked to specify specific points of disagreement, those who negotiate on behalf of the House GOP stated that there were multiple points but refused to elaborate.
Rep. Pat McHenry (R-NC) said, “We had to take a break because we have a gap in many areas.”
McHenry did not know if or when the talks would resume, nor if a deal could be reached by the weekend.
Rep. Garret G. Graves (R-La. ), another top GOP negotiator, also called the White House position “unreasonable.”
Republicans have been pushing for more stringent work requirements to be placed on recipients of government assistance. Biden said he would be willing to consider it, but Democrats have said that it is not feasible.
Without a deal, the country risks a potentially damaging default on U.S. Government debt.
The Treasury Department announced that it would run out of money to pay off the government’s debt as early as June 1.
