Biden’s Worries Over Default Blame Spur Debt Talks With Republicans

Democrats weigh concessions for increasing federal debt limit
Some Republicans think default could win them 2024, Biden says

WATCH: Republican Representative Garret Graves, one of House speaker Kevin McCarthy’s chief negotiators, suggested that the two sides were at a standoff in the debt talks.Source: Bloomberg

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By Laura Davison

May 23, 2023 at 2:50 PM UTC

Updated on

May 23, 2023 at 7:25 PM UTC

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President Joe Biden’s concern that voters could blame him for a US default helps explain why he’s doing something he resisted for months: engaging with Republicans over spending cuts and budget constraints.

Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy plan to speak daily following a Monday night meeting at the White House that both sides described as productive but which ended without a deal to raise the federal debt limit.