White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has clarified that President Biden will not negotiate on the debt ceiling during a scheduled May 9 meeting with the top 4 congressional leaders. Biden however “is willing to have a separate conversation about their spending, what they want to do with the budget,” Jean-Pierre said. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who will attend the meeting, has said that Biden must either accept the recently passed House GOP spending bill which raises the debt ceiling but also reduces spending or negotiate with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on the matter. McConnell was blunt in saying that no solution would be coming from the Senate. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said that the U.S. will reach its current debt ceiling of $31.4 trillion as soon as June 1.
