U.S. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are scheduled to meet on the 16th (local time) to negotiate the debt ceiling, Bloomberg News reported on the 14th. Attention is focused on whether the negotiations will be concluded before next month 1st, the 'X-day' designated by the U.S. Treasury Department as the deadline for a potential default.
On the day, Bloomberg cited sources saying, "(They) plan to meet on Tuesday to discuss budget negotiations to avoid default." The sources added, "However, the schedule is not yet finalized and may still change."
Previously, President Biden and Speaker McCarthy met to negotiate the debt ceiling but failed to find a breakthrough. They were also scheduled to meet again on the 12th but postponed the meeting to earlier this week. Related U.S. media have analyzed this as a sign that working-level talks to avoid default are progressing.
On the 13th, President Biden told reporters that working-level discussions on the debt ceiling negotiations with the Republicans are ongoing. He said, "We will know in the next couple of days whether there is progress," adding, "We have not yet found a breakthrough. Substantive discussions are underway on some changes that we all can make." When asked if he expects the negotiations to be completed by the Treasury Department's default deadline of next month 1st, he replied, "They have to be."
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