President Biden is punting a planned debt-limit meeting Friday with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to next week as staffers work behind the scenes on a deal, according to people familiar with the decision.

Mr. Biden is exploring whether agreeing to some spending cuts would be enough to unlock GOP opposition to raising the debt ceiling. Congress faces a June 1 deadline to hike the $31.4 trillion debt limit or face default and a potential economic meltdown.

Asked by reporters at the Capitol why the meeting was canceled, Mr. McCarthy said: “Ask the White House.”

White House officials described the postponement as a sign of progress and said talks would continue into next week. They said Mr. Biden and Mr. McCarthy, California Republican, are expected to meet early next week.

The president and the speaker, as well as other congressional leaders, met Tuesday to discuss the debt limit standoff. It was the first time in months that Mr. Biden and Mr. McCarthy had a sitdown.

The follow-up meeting was set for Friday until those plans changed on Thursday.

• Haris Alic can be reached at halic@washingtontimes.com.

• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.