Chapter Republicans In the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy said tonight that there should be a “pause” in negotiations with the White House to raise the debt limit. “Yes, we have a pause,” McCarthy said, answering a question from journalists in Congress.

A little earlier, the White House acknowledged that it “stumbled” into “real differences” with the Republicans and that the discussions are “difficult.”

On Thursday the President Joe Biden and McCarthy seemed optimistic that an agreement was possible in principle. Republicans are calling for budget cuts to get through the debt ceiling hike. “I really believed we had come to a point where we could see a way out,” McCarthy said today, adding: “We can’t spend any more money next year.”

Earlier Republican negotiator Garrett Graves said it was time for a “pause” in talks he called “unproductive” with the White House.

Biden also said that he would hold a press conference on Sunday on the issue of raising the national debt limit. The president is pushing for Congress’s constitutional duty to raise the borrowing limit, which is already $31.4 trillion. dollars (28.6 trillion euros) without conditions.

The limit is set by law and cannot be increased except by the decision of Congress. Without it, the country will no longer be able to service its debt obligations, which Mrs. Yellen warned could happen as early as June 1st.

The Republican-majority House of Representatives passed a bill in late April that would provide for a sharp cut in government spending in exchange for a higher borrowing limit.

^{Source: APE, AFP, Reuters.}