- In a first, SpaceX 'catches' megarocket booster after test flight
- Bangladeshi Hindus shrug off attack worries to celebrate festival
- Ubisoft fears assassin's hit over falling sales
- Vietnam, China hold talks on calming South China Sea tensions
- SpaceX will try to 'catch' giant Starship rocket shortly before landing
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgery: reports
- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgey: reports
- 'Little Gregory' murder haunts France 40 years on
- Tariffs, tax cuts, energy: What is in Trump's economic plan?
- Amazon wants to be everything to everyone
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- China-EU EV tariff talks in Brussels end with 'major differences': Beijing
- Buried Nazi past haunts Athens on liberation anniversary
- Harris to release medical report confirming fitness for presidency: campaign
- Nobel prize a timely reminder, Hiroshima locals say
- China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy
- Small Quebec company dominates one part of NHL hockey: jerseys
- Boeing to cut 10% of workforce as it sees big Q3 loss
- Want to film in Paris? No sexism allowed
- US, European markets rise as investors weigh rates, earnings
- In Colombia, children trade plastic waste for school supplies
- JPMorgan Chase profits top estimates, bank sees 'resilient' US economy
- Little progress at key meet ahead of COP29 climate summit
- 'Party atmosphere': Skygazers treated to another aurora show
- Kyrgyzstan opens rare probe into glacier destruction
- European Mediterranean states discuss Middle East, migration
- Thunberg leads pro-Palestinian, climate protest in Milan
- Stock markets diverge before China weekend briefing
- EU questions shopping app Temu over illegal products risk
- Han Kang's books sell out in South Korea after Nobel win
- Shanghai markets sink ahead of briefing on mixed day for Asia
- Investors, analysts eye bigger China stimulus at Saturday briefing
- Musk unveils robotaxi, pledges it 'before 2027'
- At least 11 dead in Florida but Hurricane Milton not as bad as feared
- Asian markets mixed after Wall St drop, Shanghai dips before briefing
- Automaker Stellantis says CEO will retire in 2026
- Musk's promised robotaxi unveil delayed
- On US coast, wind power foes embrace 'Save the Whales' argument
- At least 10 dead in Florida after Hurricane Milton spawns tornadoes
- Internet Archive reels from 'catastrophic' cyberattack, data breach
- Wall Street stocks retreat from records on US inflation data
- Israel strikes central Beirut, killing 22
- Solar storm could impact US hurricane recovery efforts: agency
- Delta eyes Election Day travel pullback as profits climb
- Florida battered by hurricane, floods but spared 'worst-case scenario'
- UK's William and Kate in first joint public engagement since cancer treatment
- Over 200 women in legal talks with Harrods over Fayed abuse claims
- A very stiff breeze: BBC says sorry for 20,000 kph wind forecast
- Musk finally unveiling his long-promised robotaxi
No US debt limit deal yet after Biden meets Republican leaders
A high-stakes meeting between President Joe Biden and key Republican and Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday yielded no breakthrough on the impasse over the US debt limit, but the group decided to reconvene later this week.
Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, met with Biden at the White House in the latest round of a power struggle threatening massive consequences for the world's largest economy.
The Republicans were also joined by the top two congressional Democrats: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
McCarthy said after the talks that he "didn't see any new movement," although the four and Biden will meet again on Friday.
The lifting of the so-called debt ceiling -- a limit on government borrowing to pay for bills already incurred -- is often routine.
But budget-minded Republicans, who won control of the House of Representatives in the 2022 midterm elections, have vowed to only raise the limit from its current $31.4 trillion maximum if spending curbs are enacted.
After the meeting, Jeffries said that "extreme" Republicans "have indicated that they are willing to take us down the path of default."
"That is reckless, irresponsible, and extreme," he said.
A similar impasse in 2011 resulted in the United States losing the coveted AAA debt rating.
Time is critical. On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that unless Congress acts in the coming weeks, "financial and economic chaos would ensue."
Yellen has also had conversations with CEOs to discuss the dangers of brinkmanship, a source familiar with the matter confirmed to AFP.
- Running out of time -
While McConnell told reporters after the meeting that "the United States is not going to default," he stressed that "we are running out of time."
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre argued before the Oval Office talks that it is the Republican lawmakers' constitutional duty to act.
"The exit ramp for them is to do their job," she said, referring to raising the debt ceiling without condition.
But McCarthy maintained Tuesday that House Republicans were doing their jobs by passing a plan that raises the borrowing limit, while instituting major government spending cuts. He instead accused Biden of holding the country "hostage."
Biden has repeatedly called for a "clean" lifting of the US borrowing limit, arguing that the deficit spending has already been approved by Congress and is therefore not up for debate.
Meanwhile, Democrats have referred to the plan passed by House Republicans as the "Default on America Act."
The Senate is bracing for a clash too, as 43 Republicans in the Democratic-controlled chamber signed a letter over the weekend, pledging to impose legislative hurdles to any attempt to raise the debt ceiling "without substantive spending and budget reforms."
It remains unclear when the government will run out of funds, but the Treasury has warned it could happen as early as June 1.
In addition to triggering Wall Street turmoil, failure to address the debt limit impasse may also impact Biden politically as he forges ahead into a re-election campaign.
- Uncertainties ahead -
Should the United States be unable to meet all its obligations, the Treasury would likely prioritize debt and interest payments, analysts said.
That could mean delays in doling out funds to politically sensitive groups, such as Social Security beneficiaries or Medicare providers.
Financial markets would also be rattled by the uncertainty.
In a recent report, Moody's Analytics projected that the most likely date the Treasury Department will exhaust its accounting measures is June 8, signaling "precious little time" for Democrats and Republicans to reach agreement.
This date means Treasury payments will likely be disrupted for a few days "until a mid-June surge of tax payments materializes" and helps with revenue flows.
But financial markets are sure to react negatively, with the consequent selloff in equity markets likely to "catalyze subsequent action on Capitol Hill."
"We think lawmakers will try to negotiate a compromise bill first if they are still at a stalemate when the debt limit is at risk of being breached, which seems likely," said Nancy Vanden Houten of Oxford Economics on Tuesday.
In an earlier interview with AFP, she added that "risks are certainly elevated compared to prior debt limit standoffs."
C.Peyronnet--CPN