'No movement' in US debt talks: Republicans
US President Joe Biden and top lawmakers appeared unable on Tuesday to break a deadlock over raising the US$31.4 trillion US debt limit despite a face-to-face meeting three weeks before the country may be forced into an unprecedented default. After about an hour of talks in the Oval Office, Biden, a Democrat, and House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, showed no signs of softening their positions as a default looms as early as June 1. "I didn't see any new movement," McCarthy told reporters after the meeting, complaining that Biden didn't agree to talks until time was running out. "That's not a way to govern," he said. The White House, he said "has no plan B." But he said the two sides agreed for their staff to get together this week, and for the principals to meet again on Friday to continue talking. Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, told reporters that there would be no debt ceiling increase without a cut in spending. Biden was expected to offer his own version of the meeting later on Tuesday. Economists warn that a lengthy default could send the American economy into a deep recession with soaring unemployment while destabilising a global financial system built on US bonds. Investors are bracing for impact. Biden is calling on lawmakers to raise the federal government's self-imposed borrowing limit without conditions. McCarthy has said his chamber will not approve any deal that doesn't cut spending to address a growing budget deficit and signaled that he doesn't see a short-term fix. Past debt ceiling fights have typically ended with a hastily arranged agreement in the final hours of negotiations, thus avoiding a default. In 2011, the scramble prompted a historic downgrade of the country's top-notch credit rating. Veterans of that battle warn the current situation is riskier because political divides have widened. Tuesday's meeting was closely watched ahead of what's expected to be an increasingly fraught period in Washington, ahead of June, when the US Treasury predicts the country could be forced to default on some debts. McCarthy, whose party holds only a slim majority in the House, wants to tie a vote on the debt ceiling to broad spending cuts the White House considers draconian. Biden's meeting with the speaker was their first since February 1. (Reuters)