Debt ceiling positions hardened before Biden-McCarthy meeting.

President Joe Biden has invited House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and other congressional leaders to a meeting on raising the nation’s debt limit, but he has no intention of negotiating on the matter.

Instead, the president will use the May 9 sit-down to remind Republicans of their constitutional duty to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default on the nation’s financial obligations, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a May 2 press briefing.

The statements reiterated the president’s insistence that Congress has no choice but to pass an increase in the debt limit as a matter of their constitutional duty to protect the financial integrity of the United States.

Standoff Over Debt Limit

For his part, McCarthy has said he will consider no increase in the $31.4 trillion borrowing limit unless accompanied by spending cuts. “No clean debt ceiling is going to pass the House,” McCarthy told reporters on April 26. “We can’t do that to our children.”

The two have been locked in a standoff over the issue since mid-January, and both appear committed to their positions even as the prospect of a potential default draws nearer by the day.

Growing Urgency

The president issued his invitation on May 1, the same day Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen heightened urgency to resolve the debt standoff by informing congressional leaders that the nation would likely reach its debt limit in early June, possibly by June 1.

Having exhausted the “extraordinary measures” at her disposal, Yellen said she would then be “unable to continue to satisfy all of the government’s obligations” unless Congress suspended or increased the borrowing limit.

“I respectfully urge Congress to protect the full faith and credit of the United States by acting as soon as possible,” Yellen wrote.

The timing of Biden’s invitation was not coincidental.

“We knew Secretary Yellen’s letter would be released yesterday, and the President thought it was a good opportunity to remind congressional leaders of the urgency of preventing default,” Jean-Pierre said, adding, “It is their constitutional duty. Congress must act.”

Origins of the Standoff

Yellen first notified Congress on Jan. 13 that the Treasury was days away from breaching the debt ceiling but could stave off the event using “extraordinary measures” to manage the nation’s bills.

The Treasury must borrow money consistently because Congress has authorized deficit budgets for most of the last 50 years. Since approved spending exceeds tax revenue, the Treasury must borrow funds to meet the obligations already mandated by Congress.

McCarthy has said that Republicans will not allow the country to default on its obligations. But he considers it irresponsible to allow further borrowing without also limiting spending in an effort to slow the rapidly increasing national debt.

Divided Congress

The winner-take-all outcome that both sides appear to be working for may be difficult to achieve in a divided Congress.

Republicans narrowly control the House while Democrats hold a slim majority in the Senate.

McConnell, who has taken a backseat to McCarthy on debt negotiations, said the chance that any measure the Senate could approve by 60 votes would also pass in the House is “essentially zero.”