Biden might skip G7 summit as debt ceiling row with Speaker continues
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The US President says the debt ceiling issue is the most urgent matter on his agenda.
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US President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the US Capitol in Washington, US, March 17, 2023 (Reuters)
US President Joe Biden might not attend the upcoming G7 meeting in Japan next week if the debt ceiling issue is not resolved by then, media outlets reported on Tuesday.
"I’m still committed, but obviously this is the single most important thing on the agenda," CNN quoted him as telling journalists after meeting with congressional leaders on the matter.
But he added that his trip is "not likely" to be canceled, yet it still remains a possibility.
Read more: US debt default would trigger 'economic catastrophe': Yellen
"If somehow we got down to the wire and we still hadn’t resolved this, and the due date was a matter of when I was supposed to be away, I would not go ... I would stay until this gets finished," Biden said.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Congress on Sunday that failing to resolve the debt ceiling issue on their part might create a "constitutional crisis" and send out a ripple effect across the financial markets.
The Treasury Department is exhausting its available measures to avoid a default and will not be able to do that for long, Yellen added in an interview on ABC's This Week.
To discuss the debt ceiling crisis, Biden met in the White House on Tuesday with congressional leaders Republican US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Read more: Senators urge Biden to stop playing 'Russian roulette' with US economy
The discussions did not yield any outcome, but Biden called them productive, claiming that the US will not default on its debt.
However, McCarthy did not share Biden's view on the meeting, saying it did not result in "any new movement" toward solving the matter.
McCarthy hoped that the US President "would be willing to negotiate for the next two weeks so we could actually solve this problem and not take America on the brink."
Another round of talks between the parties will be held on Friday.
Japan, which currently holds the G7 president, will be hosting the group's summit in Hiroshima from May 19 to 21.
The attending leaders will discuss the war in Ukraine, in addition to the Indo-Pacific region.
