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Biden says he's confident leaders will reach an agreement on debt limit

(CNN) -- President Joe Biden on Wednesday sought to lay out how he'll continue to negotiate with congressional leaders on the budget to raise the debt ceiling - underscoring that all parties agreed that the United States would not default.

Posted 2023-05-17T15:55:13+00:00 - Updated 2023-05-17T23:43:02+00:00

What the US debt ceiling debate in Washington, DC means for you

Maegan Vazquez, Donald Judd

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Nikki Carvajal, CNN

(CNN) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday sought to lay out how he’ll continue to negotiate with congressional leaders on the budget to raise the debt ceiling – underscoring that all parties agreed that the United States would not default.

In remarks delivered just before departing for Japan, the president relayed his meeting at the White House on Tuesday with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders was “productive,” adding, “I think you can be confident that we’ll get the agreement.”

Time is running short to raise the borrowing limit ahead of June 1, which is the earliest date the Treasury Department says the government could be unable to pay its bills, triggering a default on the national debt which could have catastrophic consequences on the global economy.

In the Roosevelt Room ahead of his trip, the president also emphasized that negotiations to outline areas to trim the budget are separate from negotiations to avoid default. The White House has sought to maintain that budget negotiations and debt ceiling negotiations operate on separate tracks.

“To be clear, this negotiation is about the outlines of what a budget would look like, not about whether or not we’re going to pay our debts,” Biden said. “The leaders all agreed, we will not default. Every leader has said that.”

Around the time of Tuesday’s meeting with congressional leaders, the White House officially announced that Biden had canceled two legs of his trip to the Pacific region. While he will still travel to Japan for the Group of 7 meeting, he will no longer visit Papua New Guinea and Australia. The president will return to Washington on Sunday.

The president told reporters he’ll “be in constant contact with my team while I’m at the G7 and (I will) be in close contact with (House Speaker Kevin) McCarthy and other leaders as well,” during his travel abroad.

On Tuesday, McCarthy and Biden both agreed to more direct conversations between their two teams. Conversations between the two parties began Tuesday evening and are taking place again on Wednesday, the president said.

A key sticking point in budget negotiations has been whether Biden and congressional Democrats will accept changes to work requirements for safety net programs, something House Republicans have been pushing for.

Biden said if he accepts any additional work requirements, they will not be “anything of any consequence.”

“I’m not going to accept any work requirements that’s going to … impact on medical health needs of people,” Biden said. “I’m not going to accept any work requirements that go much beyond what is already – I voted years ago for the work requirements that exist, but as possible it’s there could be a few other – but not anything of any consequence.”