US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, speaks during a news conference at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. McCarthy squeaked his debt limit bill through the House winning a politically important victory that intensifies the standoff with the White House over averting a catastrophic US default. (Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images via CNN)
(CNN) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has accepted an invitation to meet with President Joe Biden on May 9 about the debt ceiling, according to a source familiar, setting the stage for a high-stakes moment in the debt ceiling standoff.
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The president invited all four Congressional leaders to the meeting.
Biden’s calls came after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen notified lawmakers on Monday that the US could default on its debt by June 1.
President Biden has not met with McCarthy since February.
The House passed a package to raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion last week. The bill — which includes spending cuts, beefed-up work requirements in safety net programs and other measures that Democrats would not accept — has been described by Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer as “dead on arrival” in the Senate.
Following the bill’s passage in the House, President Biden told reporters he would be “happy to meet with McCarthy, but not on whether or not the debt limit gets extended.” The White House has maintained that the president would only accept a clean proposal to raise the nation’s borrowing limit.
McCarthy responded to Yellen’s comments Monday in a statement that said, “The clock is ticking.”
“After three months of the Biden administration’s inaction, the House acted, and there is a bill sitting in the Senate as we speak that would put the risk of default to rest,” McCarthy said. “The Senate and the President need to get to work — and soon.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
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