House Republicans are pressing Democrats to stay in town and work out a deal before the country defaults on its debt.
With just three days left in which members of the House, Senate, and President Joe Biden will be in Washington, D.C., at the same time before the Treasury Department exhausts its special measures to make debt payments, Republicans are trying to make the window a little larger. Biden and congressional leaders are set to meet at the White House at 3 p.m. on Tuesday before the president leaves for a G-7 meeting in Japan on Wednesday.
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"We urge the Senate to remain in session from May 19th to June 1st if the debt ceiling is not raised by then," a group of 14 House Republicans wrote to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY). "If no action is taken by President Biden and your Democrat-led Senate to lift the debt ceiling, we will default on our debts."
The Senate is set to convene for a full session this week before adjourning for recess and is slated to be absent from May 20 to 29. It is set to return on May 30 and 31. Meanwhile, the House is in session this week until Thursday. The lower chamber is set to return next Monday to next Thursday, the last day of its scheduled session for the month.
Simultaneously, Biden is set to attend the G-7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, from May 19 to 21. He also has his first visit to Australia as president and the first-ever presidential stop to Papua New Guinea on the itinerary.
So far, the White House doesn't appear willing to make any changes to Biden's travel plans.
“That’s my plan as it stands now,” Biden told reporters from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, over the weekend.
Still, Biden has kept open the possibility of scaling down the diplomatic trip or canceling it altogether if need be.
On Monday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reminded congressional leaders that her department will exhaust its "extraordinary" measures on June 1.
Including Tuesday, there are 16 calendar days left until the "X Date."
Staff negotiators have been scrambling behind the scenes to cut a deal to avert the economic calamity. Biden has demanded a "clean" debt ceiling bill without any spending cuts attached. The White House maintains the two sides have had budget negotiations with debt limit considerations attached.
"I don't know what he calls that, but everybody else would call it negotiating," House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said.
McCarthy has demanded a debt limit hike be paired with a dramatic reduction in spending. Last month, House Republicans passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act, featuring sharp cuts across the board and a $4.8 trillion deficit reduction over the next 10 years, per the Congressional Budget Office.
Biden and the Democrats have slammed the plan as a nonstarter. But the White House appears open to some provisions, such as rescinding unspent COVID-19 funds, implementing caps on spending, and some requirements on social safety programs.
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Tuesday's meeting between the "big four" and Biden marks the third major sit-down between the group on the debt limit. It was initially supposed to take place last Friday but was postponed as aides worked on specifics. The group met last week and in February.
“My understanding is that the meeting with leadership was postponed because the negotiators are making some progress and want to have something concrete to discuss with the leadership when they meet again,” Yellen said, per the Wall Street Journal. “I’m hopeful. I think the negotiations are very active. I’m told they have found some areas of agreement.”