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The
leaders had canceled a planned meeting on Friday to let staff
continue to discuss.
Pierre told reporters that the staff-level talks, which started
on Tuesday, have been "productive," though she declined to
provide specifics.
"It's been productive. It's been continuing," she said. "They're
going to meet today, they're going to meet over the weekend. I
think that should kind of tell you that the conversations are
going in the right direction."
Aides for Biden and McCarthy have started to discuss ways to
limit federal spending, as talks on raising the government's
$31.4 trillion debt ceiling to avoid a catastrophic default
creep forward, Reuters reported.
The Treasury Department says it could run out of money by June 1
unless lawmakers lift the nation's debt ceiling and Biden is
expected to leave next week for the G7 summit. Biden initially
said he could cancel the trip if needed, but Jean-Pierre said on
Friday he plans on going.
Biden's fiscal 2024 budget request relies on tax increases to
reduce deficits while proposing to increase discretionary
spending by 5 percent next year. That represents a more than
$200 billion difference with House Republicans, however, who
want to cut agency budgets on average by 8 percent while
increasing defense and veterans spending — meaning other
programs would face steeper cuts.
(Reporting By Jeff Mason and Jarrett Renshaw; editing by
Jonathan Oatis and Doina Chiacu)
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