Debt limit standoff brings tough talk, little action as Biden, world leaders watch for progress

WASHINGTON (AP) — Debt limit negotiations between the White House and House Republicans hung over the weekend with tough talk but little action, as President Joe Biden and world leaders watched from afar hoping high-stakes discussions would make progress on avoiding a potentially catastrophic federal default.

In a sign of a renewed bargaining session, food was brought to the negotiating room at the Capitol on Saturday morning, only to be carted away hours later. No meeting was expected. It was another start-stop day with no outward signs of progress, though talks could step up again Sunday.

The Biden administration and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., are racing for a budget deal that would pave the way to increase the nation's debt limit. Republicans are demanding steep spending cuts that Democrats oppose as too severe. The two sides are up against a deadline as soon as June 1 to raise its borrowing limit, now at $31 trillion, so the government can keep paying the nation’s bills.

“The Speaker’s team put on the table an offer that was a big step back and contained a set of extreme partisan demands that could never pass both Houses of Congress,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement late Saturday.

“Let’s be clear: The President’s team is ready to meet any time,” said Jean-Pierre, adding that Republican leadership is beholden to its extreme wing in threatening default.

McCarthy tweeted that it was the Whi...