President Biden Tuesday afternoon is hosting House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for high-stakes talks about the looming debt limit crisis.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the U.S. may hit its debt ceiling as soon as June 1. Republicans have dug in on requesting budget cuts – potentially across-the-board cuts impacting all programs – while the White House and Democratic allies want a clean debt limit increase to avoid the country defaulting on its debts, leaving spending discussions for future debates.

The Senate Armed Services Committee is postponing consideration of the fiscal year 2024 defense authorization bill to make room for discussion on the looming debt limit crisis, CQ reported. The committee planned to mark up its version of the National Defense Authorization Act in May to get it on the Senate floor in June. But the debt limit talks are bumping it.

The House Armed Services Committee is still planning to mark up its bill this week in subcommittee hearings and in a full committee hearing May 23, as On Base previously reported.

Reuters photo by Evelyn Hockstein