Republicans will lose in a fight over the debt ceiling

US PRESIDENT Joe Biden and the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, met last week at the White House to try to avoid a shattering default on the federal government’s debt and perhaps reach a solution to avert such a catastrophe. The negotiations between the White House and the Republicans over the issue is expected to continue in the coming weeks.

Much of the attention has been on which side would “win” a potential fight over the issue as the United States is getting close to a dangerous deadline, expected to come in June, when the US debt reaches the US$31.4 trillion limit. At that point the Treasury Department cannot continue borrowing and therefore cannot pay the government’s bills.

The Republicans insist that they wouldn’t support raising the debt limit unless the Biden administration agrees to make major spending cuts.