House Speaker McCarthy to meet President Biden on Wednesday to discuss debt ceiling, spending cuts

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he will meet with President Joe Biden on Wednesday to discuss the debt ceiling and potential spending cuts.

McCarthy told CBS' Face the Nation that the meeting will involve a "reasonable and responsible" way to both lift the debt ceiling to avert a U.S. default and also cut spending.

After the U.S. Treasury announced the government reached its borrowing limit, discussions in Congress have intensified surrounding raising the debt ceiling to avoid an economic crisis if the U.S. defaults on its debts.

McCarthy and House Republicans are hoping to leverage the need to raise the debt ceiling in order to negotiate concessions from Democrats on spending cuts.

So far, the White House has not shown interest in the kind of negotiations McCarthy is suggesting.

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"I will not let anyone use the full faith and credit of the United States as a bargaining chip. In the United States of America we pay our debts," said Biden in a speech Thursday in Virginia.

McCarthy, for his part, expressed optimism about the upcoming meeting with the president.

"I know the president said he didn't want to have any discussions, but I think it's very important that our whole government is designed to find compromise," the speaker said.

"I want to sit down together, work out an agreement that we can move forward to put us on a path to balance and at the same time not put any of our debt in jeopardy," McCarthy continued.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: McCarthy to meet Biden on Wednesday to discuss debt ceiling and budget