‘Potentially devastating’
The White House said Biden has instructed his staff to continue meeting daily on outstanding issues and that he will speak to Republican leaders upon his return from the G7 meetings.
Republicans have continued to push Biden for significant spending cuts in exchange for his support for raising the debt ceiling, ignoring Democratic calls for a “clean” increase of the borrowing limit with no strings attached.
Democrats have accused Republicans of using overzealous tactics to push their agenda past the so-called “X-date”, at which the United States begins to default on its debts.
In a sign of growing nervousness over what would be the first US debt default, more than 140 top US CEOs sent a letter to Biden and congressional leaders stressing the need for an agreement.
“We strongly urge that an agreement be reached as soon as possible so that the country can avoid this potentially catastrophic scenario,” said the letter signed by the CEOs of Pfizer and Morgan Stanley.