周三，乔·拜登总统和众议院议长凯文·麦卡锡在椭圆形办公室进行了一个多小时的会晤，之后麦卡锡称之为“良好的首次会晤”，暗示两人可能会在支出问题上达成妥协。
与此同时，他说没有达成任何协议，也没有做出任何承诺。
这是自麦卡锡上个月以微弱优势赢得议长职位以来，两人首次举行备受期待的会议，正值国债限额问题持续僵持之际。
麦卡锡在白宫车道上对记者说:“我认为，最终我们可以找到共同点，我真的这么认为。”。
几分钟后，白宫发布了对此次会晤的看法，称两人进行了“坦率而坦率的对话”，并将继续对话。
声明称:“他们讨论了一系列问题，拜登总统强调，他渴望继续真诚地跨党派合作。”。
白宫表示，拜登“明确”表示，他们不能允许美国违约，这一义务“没有谈判余地或条件”，并补充说，拜登“欢迎就减少赤字进行单独讨论”。
总统周一告诉记者，他给麦卡锡的信息是“让我看看你的预算”，展示他提议的具体削减，以换取共和党支持提高债务上限，并避免灾难性的违约。
周三，美国广播公司(ABC News)驻白宫高级记者玛丽·布鲁斯(Mary Bruce)问麦卡锡何时会分享他承诺的“大计划”，麦卡锡回应说，“我认为总统和我已经谈了很多不同的想法，我们将努力看看我们是否能达成协议。”
被进一步追问，麦卡锡回击道，“我知道你们都有工作要做，但我不认为如果我和你谈判，我们会达成协议。”
白宫一再表示，它不会与共和党人谈判-美国经济的风险太高，而且这一限制此前已经提高了74次，包括在时任总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)领导下的共和党支持下。
但是周二，总统暗示他愿意对话。当被问及他是否会在周三的会议上与议长谈判时，拜登简单地回答说，“让我看看他的预算。”
总统长期以来一直把自己塑造成一个交易撮合者，渴望与共和党人坐下来达成两党协议。周二在纽约的一个筹款会上，拜登称麦卡锡是“一个正派的人”。
但他也痛斥国会共和党人是“极端的”，并说麦卡锡已经向那个派系屈服，取得了控制权。
“看看他必须做什么，”总统周二说。“他必须做出承诺，这绝对超出了众议院议长为成为一名领导人而做出的承诺。”
麦卡锡在筹款会上回应拜登的评论时说，“显然他不明白。”
麦卡锡说:“我期待着与总统坐下来，代表美国公众——美国人民——就我们如何找到节约措施进行谈判。”
当被问及他是否计划向拜登提出具体提议时，麦卡锡说，“我想我们会坐下来谈判。”
这种公开的姿态只是两人之间最新的一次交锋。
周二早些时候，麦卡锡告诉记者，他“愿意与拜登坐下来”，“并最终在债务上限达到我们必须做些什么的临界点之前完成这项工作。”
"因为你为什么要把美国的经济置于危险境地?"他说。“你为什么会玩政治游戏?”
麦卡锡指出，他和拜登“在他担任总统之前见过多次”，尽管“不如担任总统时那么频繁。”
他周二说，白宫应该“说他们愿意谈判，因为唯一不负责任的方式是玩政治游戏，说我们不会谈论它。对我来说，这听起来很幼稚。”
当天早些时候，白宫高级官员在一份备忘录中写道，拜登计划在会议期间向麦卡锡提出两个问题。
预计总统将问麦卡锡，他是否会“致力于美国永远不会违约的基本原则”，以及他是否同意“前总统，包括特朗普总统和里根总统，避免债务上限边缘政策至关重要，”根据这份备忘录，这是第一次由ABC新闻获得。
备忘录的作者——总统的高级经济顾问布赖恩·迪斯和白宫预算办公室主任沙兰达·杨——指出，拜登计划在3月9日公布预算。他们要求麦卡锡也这样做。
“至关重要的是，”他们写道，“议长麦卡锡同样承诺公布预算，以便美国人民能够看到众议院共和党人计划如何减少赤字——无论是通过削减社会保障;削减医疗保险、医疗补助和平价医疗法案(ACA)的医疗保险;和/或削减研究、教育和公共安全——以及他们的预算将在多大程度上增加最富有的美国人和大公司的减税赤字，正如他们今年的第一份法案中所述。”
对此，麦卡锡在周二的一份声明中写道:“总统先生:我收到了你的员工备忘录。我对政治游戏不感兴趣。我是来为美国人民谈判的。”
众议院的共和党人坚持大幅削减开支，以换取他们在提高债务上限上的合作。
代表众议院最大共和党团体的共和党研究委员会(Republican Study Committee)此前呼吁修改社会保障和医疗保险，包括将医疗保险的年龄提高到67岁，将年轻工人的社会保障年龄提高到70岁。
但麦卡锡最近表示，对社会保障和医疗保险的任何削减都将“不在讨论范围内”。
麦卡锡指出，共和党人在中期选举前提出的“对美国的承诺”计划“加强了”医疗保险和社会保障。白宫指责麦卡锡在政府支出计划上“闪烁其词”。
当被问及他所说的“加强”是什么意思以及他是否会寻求提高退休年龄时，麦卡锡说:“不，不，不。我所说的社会保障，医疗保险，你把它放在一边。”
麦卡锡说:“我想找到一个合理和负责任的方法，我们可以提高债务上限，但控制这种失控的支出。”
参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔表示支持麦卡锡。“我们都支持凯文，”他周二说。“祝他谈判顺利。”
与此同时，白宫一再表示，拜登不会通过将提高债务上限与削减支出挂钩进行谈判或妥协，政府指出了两党多年来提高上限的两党历史。
“利用债务上限作为杠杆的企图不会奏效，”白宫新闻秘书郭佳欣·让-皮埃尔上个月告诉记者。“不会有劫持人质。”
本月早些时候，麦卡锡明确表示他将坚守立场。
“总统说他甚至不会谈判，这是不负责任的。我们会负责任的。我们会变得理智，我们会一起完成这件事。因此，他拖得越久，就越会让美国面临财政危机，”麦卡锡上个月告诉美国广播公司新闻资深国会记者雷切尔·斯科特。“我们应该坐下来把这件事做完，不要再玩政治了，”他补充道。
债务上限不允许政府在新项目上支出，而是允许美国借入任何需要的资金来支付国家现有的账单。
本月早些时候，联邦政府达到了当前的债务上限，约为31.4万亿美元，促使财政部采取“非常措施”进行干预，这将使国家避免灾难性的违约，直到6月份。
“拜登总统将要求麦卡锡议长公开向美国人民和世界其他国家保证，美国将一如既往地履行其所有财政义务，”备忘录称。
After high-stakes meeting with Biden, McCarthy says 'common ground' possible
President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met in the Oval Office for more than hour Wednesday, and afterward McCarthy called it a "good first meeting," suggesting the two men might find a compromise over spending.
At the same time, he said there were "no agreements" and "no promises" made.
The highly anticipated meeting, the first the two men have held since McCarthy narrowly won the speakership last month, comes amid an ongoing standoff over the national debt limit.
"I think, at the of the day, we can find common ground, I really do," McCarthy told reporters in the White House driveway.
A few minutes later, the White House released its take on the meeting, saying the two men had a "frank and straightforward dialogue" and that the conversation would continue.
"They covered a range of issues and President Biden underscored that he is eager to continue working across the aisle in good faith," the statement said.
The White House said that Biden "made clear" that they cannot allow the U.S. to default and that this obligation is "not negotiable or conditional," adding that Biden "welcomes a separate discussion" on reducing the deficit.
The president had told reporters Monday that his message for McCarthy would be "show me your budget," showing specific cuts he's proposing in exchange for Republican support to lift the debt ceiling -- and avoid a catastrophic default.
Asked Wednesday by ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Mary Bruce when he would share the "big plan" he has promised, McCarthy responded, "I think the president and I have talked about a lot of different ideas and we'll work to see if we can come to an agreement."
Pressed further, McCarthy fired back, "I know you all have a job to do but I don't think we'll come to an agreement if I negotiate with you."
The White House has repeatedly said it would not negotiate with Republicans -- that the stakes for the U.S. economy were too high, and that the limit had been raised 74 times before, including with Republican support under then-President Donald Trump.
But on Tuesday, the president suggested he was open to talking. Asked if he would negotiate with the speaker during Wednesday's meeting, Biden responded simply, "Show me his budget."
The president has long cast himself as a dealmaker, eager to sit down with Republicans to reach bipartisan agreements. At a fundraiser in New York on Tuesday, Biden referred to McCarthy as "a decent man."
But he has also lambasted congressional Republicans as "extreme" and said McCarthy had given in to that faction to take control.
"Look at what he had to do," the president said Tuesday. "He had to make commitments that were just absolutely off the wall for a speaker of the House to make in terms of being able to become a leader."
Responding to Biden's comments at the fundraiser, McCarthy said, "apparently he doesn't understand."
"I'm looking forward to sitting down with the president negotiating for the American public -- the people of America -- on how we can find savings," McCarthy said.
When asked if he planned to make Biden a specific offer, McCarthy said, "I think we're gonna sit down and negotiate."
That public posturing was only the latest salvo launched between the two men.
Earlier Tuesday, McCarthy told reporters that he was "willing to sit down" with Biden "and finally get this done long before the debt limit hits its point that we have to get something done."
"Because why would you put the economics of America in jeopardy?" he said. "Why would you play political games?"
McCarthy has noted he and Biden had "met many times prior to him being president," although "not as often as being president."
He said Tuesday the White House should "say they're willing to negotiate, because the only irresponsible way is to play a political game and say, we're not going to talk about it. It sounds pretty childish to me."
Earlier in the day, top White House officials wrote in a memo that Biden planned to pose two questions to McCarthy during the meeting.
The president is expected to ask McCarthy if he will "commit to the bedrock principle that the United States will never default on its financial obligations" and whether he agrees with "former presidents, including Presidents Trump and Reagan, that it is critical to avoid debt limit brinksmanship," according to the memo, which was first obtained by ABC News.
The authors of the memo -- the president's top economic adviser, Brian Deese, and the director of the White House budget office, Shalanda Young – noted Biden planned to release a budget on March 9. They challenged McCarthy to do the same.
"It is essential," they wrote, "that Speaker McCarthy likewise commit to releasing a budget, so that the American people can see how House Republicans plan to reduce the deficit – whether through Social Security cuts; cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Affordable Care Act (ACA) health coverage; and/or cuts to research, education, and public safety – as well as how much their Budget will add to the deficit with tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and large corporations, as in their first bill this year."
In response, McCarthy wrote in a statement Tuesday: "Mr. President: I received your staff's memo. I'm not interested in political games. I'm coming to negotiate for the American people."
Republicans in the House have insisted on deep spending cuts in exchange for their cooperation on raising the debt ceiling.
The Republican Study Committee, which represents the largest group of Republicans in the House, previously called for revisions to Social Security and Medicare, including raising the age for Medicare to 67 and Social Security to the age of 70 for younger workers.
But McCarthy recently said any cuts to Social Security and Medicare would be "off the table."
McCarthy pointed to the "Commitment to America" plan presented by Republicans before the midterms, which he said "strengthens" Medicare and Social Security. The White House has accused McCarthy of being "evasive" on his plan for government spending.
Pressed on what he meant by "strengthen" and whether he would seek to raise the retirement age -- McCarthy said: "No, no, no. What I'm talking about Social Security, Medicare, you keep that to the side."
"I want to find a reasonable and a responsible way that we can lift the debt ceiling but take control of this runaway spending," McCarthy said.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has expressed support for McCarthy. "We're all behind Kevin," he said Tuesday. "Wishing him well in the negotiations."
Meanwhile, the White House has repeatedly said Biden will not negotiate or compromise by tying a debt limit increase to spending cuts, with the administration pointing to the bipartisan history of the ceiling being increased by both parties over the years.
"Attempts to exploit the debt ceiling as leverage will not work," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters last month. "There will be no hostage taking."
Earlier this month, McCarthy made it clear he was holding firm.
"For the president to say he wouldn't even negotiate -- that's irresponsible. We're going to be responsible. We're going to be sensible, and we're going to get this done together. So the longer he waits, the more he puts the fiscal jeopardy of America up for grabs," McCarthy told ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott last month. "We should sit down and get this done and stop playing politics," he added.
The debt limit doesn't allow government spending on new programs -- instead it allows the U.S. to borrow any money it needs to pay for the nation's existing bills.
The federal government hit the current debt ceiling, about $31.4 trillion earlier this month prompting the Treasury Department to step in with "extraordinary measures" which will allow the nation to avert a catastrophic default until June.
"President Biden will ask Speaker McCarthy to publicly assure the American people and the rest of the world that the United States will, as always, honor all of its financial obligations," the memo stated.
