A leading Republican leader said Thursday, May 18 to see "a breakthrough" in talks to avoid a default of payment of the United States, but political tensions continue, even within the conservative camp as well as the Democratic Party.

The government expects the federal debt ceiling to be reached as early as June 1, if Congress does not vote, as it is required to, to raise it. This raises fears that the world's largest economy will default on debt repayments, triggering a global financial storm, and strangling growth and jobs in the country.

"We haven't agreed anything yet — but I see a breakthrough through that we could reach an agreement," said House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, who had never been heard so confident.

The Conservative won the Speaker of the House hammer in January by promising the most right-wing elected officials of his party that there would be no increase in the borrowing limit without significant sizes in public spending.

Period

But these same Trumpist parliamentarians, gathered in a group called the "Freedom Caucus", asked him Thursday not to make any more concessions to Democratic President Joe Biden, and to defend the Republican project of budgetary austerity as it is. "No more discussions to dilute it. Full stop," the faction said on Twitter.

The White House, for its part, points out that the debt ceiling has been raised dozens of times without budget negotiations. She accuses Republicans of holding the US economy "hostage" and of wanting to sacrifice many social benefits.

"Congress must not trigger this crisis," Vice President Kamala Harris repeated Thursday, arguing that this famous debt ceiling had been raised three times during Donald Trump's presidency.

Joe Biden has appointed two special negotiators on the file. The US president, who is attending the G7 summit in Japan, has also cut short a diplomatic tour planned in the aftermath, in order to return to Washington on Sunday, just to supervise the discussions. It has already brought together key parliamentary leaders twice in the Oval Office.

Any deal must be passed by the Republican-led House and the Democratic-dominated Senate before the deadline, and the parliamentary calendar is so made that session days are rare. Kevin McCarthy said it was "important to try to have an agreement - especially in principle - by this weekend". To do this, Joe Biden will also have to ensure that his party remains in close ranks.

Constitution

Some Senate Democrats are pushing him through in force, invoking the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which would allow him to continue issuing government bonds even without a congressional vote.

Eleven senators, led by progressive figure Bernie Sanders, published a letter Thursday denouncing the "massive budget cuts" demanded by Republicans, which would "cause incalculable damage to the lives of working people."

Believing that an agreement is "apparently impossible at this stage" in view of the demands of the conservatives, they "urge (Joe Biden) to prepare to exercise his prerogatives under the 14th amendment of the Constitution." This text states that "the validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, (...) must not be called into question".

Resorting to it would mean for Joe Biden to engage in a long legal battle with an uncertain outcome. So far the president is not considering it to solve the current crisis, but has promised to study the feasibility of this constitutional strategy in the longer term.

With AFP

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