Jeff Mason and Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday urged House Speaker Kay Vin McCarthy has ruled out the possibility of an unprecedented U.S. debt default, warning it would send credit card and mortgage rates soaring.
The White House.
He said the threat of default by some Republicans in Congress was “utterly irresponsible” and must be “off the table.”
“It’s going to lead to higher interest rates, higher credit card rates, mortgage rates are going to spike,” Biden said.
“The most immediate thing we can do is to ensure that our economy continues to depend on our financial system. In this regard, the most important thing we must do is to ensure that the Speaker of the House of Representatives is committed to defaulting on the national debt.” Threats are ruled out,” he added.
The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed a bill on Wednesday to raise the government’s $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, which includes sweeping cut the expenses. While the bill is not expected to be approved by the Senate, McCarthy hopes to entice Biden to negotiate spending cuts, even as the White House and congressional Democrats insist on raising the debt ceiling with no strings attached.
The US Treasury could run out of ways to pay its bills within weeks if Congress does not act, and financial markets are already sending warning signs. 2011 The impasse led to a downgrade of the government’s credit rating, driving up borrowing costs and dampening investment.
McCarthy, said during his visit to Jerusalem, he expressed his concerns about the debt ceiling, but the only way to resolve the issue is for Biden to negotiate.
“We’re going to have to work together to fix it,” he said. “I expect the president to change his mind and negotiate with us.”
