Debt Ceiling Talks Stall, Little Chance of Congressional Deal by June 1

Republican Walk Out of Talks

Because of the time it takes a bill to get through the House and Senate, prospects of meeting a hoped for agreement by June 1 date are dwindling. 

On Thursday, House speaker Kevin McCarthy said “I see the path that we can come to an agreement.” 

Sentiment changed overnight. 

Today, CNBC reports Republicans walk out of debt ceiling talks, say White House isn’t being ‘reasonable’.

 “Until people are willing to have reasonable conversations about how you can actually move forward and do the right thing, then we’re not gonna sit here and talk to ourselves,” Rep. Garret Graves, R-La., told reporters.

“We decided to press pause because it’s just not productive,” he added. Graves said he did not know if talks would resume this weekend.

‘We’re Not There’: Negotiators Pause Debt-Ceiling Talks

The Wall Street Journal reports ‘We’re Not There’: Negotiators Pause Debt-Ceiling Talks

The top negotiator to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) said that the latest conversations had yielded no progress.

“We’re not there,” said Rep. Garret Graves (R., La.) as he left a meeting with White House officials. “We’ve decided to press pause because it’s just not productive.” Asked if he would be meeting again over the weekend in person, Graves said “I’m not sure right now.”

“The House passed a strong bill. It has great savings in it. And it’s responsible and it puts us on a path to bend the curve,” Graves said. “Until people are willing to have reasonable conversations about how you can actually move forward and do the right thing, then we’re not going to sit here and talk to ourselves,” said Graves, who was flanked by Rep. Patrick McHenry (R., N.C.).

Minutes earlier, White House adviser Steve Ricchetti and Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young had left the meeting without saying when they planned to restart conversations. “Playing by ear,” Ricchetti said in response to a question about whether there would be more meetings Friday.

Trump Urges Hardline Position

The Hill reports Trump urges hardline position as debt ceiling talks paused: ‘Do not fold!!!’

Former President Trump on Friday urged Republican lawmakers to dig in on debt ceiling talks just as negotiations with the White House were paused over disagreements.

“Republicans should not make a deal on the debt ceiling unless they get everything they want (Including the ‘kitchen sink’),” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “That’s the way the Democrats have always dealt with us. Do not fold!!!”

When is the X-date?

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the X-date after which the Treasury may not be able to pay the bills may be as early as June 1. 

I have seen estimates as late as August, even October.

August, Perhaps Even October? 

If the Treasury can make it until June 9th or 10th, another round of quarterly tax payments is expected on June 15.

With a bit of prioritization in paying the bills, that could stretch things out to August or perhaps even October according to Bob Elliott.

I Highly doubt October, but August may easily be doable with prioritized payments between the X-date and the expected tax receipts.

If we make it to June 15, talks, the walkouts, and drama may easily last two more months. 

Hooray!?

This post originated at MishTalk.Com

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ohno
ohno
10 months ago
Another day.
PapaDave
PapaDave
11 months ago
And…
Talks have resumed for the weekend.
Lol!
Now maybe people here can shift their focus to things that they have control over. Like their health and fitness, family and finances.
Lisa_Hooker
Lisa_Hooker
11 months ago
Reply to  PapaDave
Never!!!
We still have Artificial Intelligence (the computer kind, not the Washington, DC kind) and the Ukraine war to worry about.
We can also worry about the newest Recession too.
I will be forming a new think tank: The International Institute for the Preservation of Fear (IIPF).
We should be able to raise a lot of donations from the folks around Washington and Sillycon Valley.
Thanks for listening.
PapaDave
PapaDave
10 months ago
Reply to  Lisa_Hooker
I have been following the development of AI for some time now. Up till recently, it was merely something interesting to talk about (like nuclear fusion and autonomous vehicles). However, it appears to have reached the point where it will begin to have a significant impact (both good and bad) on our world (like assembly lines, automation, computers, the internet, and smartphones did).
Many here are interested in the micro, short term details (such as the debt ceiling negotiations that are called off at 2 pm, “OMG the market’s going to crash”, then resume at 7 pm). I am interested in the longer term scenario and how to profit from it.
Like oil and gas, AI is another big picture, long term story. I suspect that it is going to boost productivity and creativity dramatically over the next decade or two. Though it is difficult to identify which companies will get the greatest benefit from it; because I think it will be a boost for all those who find a way to harness it.
AI could be the key to greater economic growth for the next 20 years. Rather than the 1%/a US growth that I was expecting, we may get 2%/a in the next decade and even more in the following decade because of AI. It can help reduce inflation and ease the skilled labor shortage. Lots of positive possibilities. Lots of negative ones as well to worry about, which I am sure that people will be discussing on blogs like this.
Just two real world examples I recently heard of. AI debugged some complex new software in a matter of minutes, after a team of software developers spent days attempting to do the same thing and could not. A legal firm said AI is already increasing the productivity of its legal aids by 10x.
Spread that throughout the economy and you have a new productivity boom coming over the next decade as it gets applied. The problem is determining how to personally take advantage with individual investments. If you can’t pinpoint individual companies, you can simply buy the indexes.
Something to “think about” anyway.
jefflill
jefflill
11 months ago
I wonder if the Treasury will actually have enough cash in June to prioritize treasury principal and interest.
I did my first ChatGPT query on this topic and it says that about $1.2T is due in June with $100B due on June 1st:
According to the Bipartisan Policy Center3, a think tank that tracks federal spending and debt issues, the Treasury has about $1.2 trillion in interest and principal payments due in June 2023. This includes:
$1 trillion in rollover payments for maturing securities
$150 billion in interest payments
$50 billion in principal payments
These payments are spread throughout the month, with some large amounts due on June 1 ($101 billion), June 15 ($200 billion), June 22 ($200 billion) and June 30 ($200 billion)
So, the Treasury would need at least $100B on hand on June 1st and I believe it has only something like $68B today and that’s running down.
I’ve read lots of articles saying that on average, the treasury will have enough income per month to prioritize debt payments. That’s fine, but it assumes that they’ve stopped making some other payments. Of course, that’s not happening yet.
I also wonder how easy it will be to roll over $1T of debt in June if this drama continues. What’s the chance of failed auctions or much higher rates?
Lisa_Hooker
Lisa_Hooker
11 months ago
Reply to  jefflill
Why is no one talking about closing down National Parks and other Government buildings like they did in Clinton’s administration when they ran out of money?
RonJ
RonJ
11 months ago
“The House passed a strong bill. It has great savings in it.”
I was just reading a story this morning, that claimed the government spent some 6 trillion dollars on the post 9/11 wars.
Congress hasn’t been about savings, it has been about spending on guns or butter.
shamrock
shamrock
11 months ago
Reply to  RonJ
The House did not pass a budget. The house has not even proposed a budget. Biden sent his proposed budget to both chambers 4 months ago.
Zardoz
Zardoz
11 months ago
Reply to  shamrock
They’re planning on tantrums to carry the day.
Lisa_Hooker
Lisa_Hooker
11 months ago
Reply to  RonJ
Guns AND butter!
Guns AND butter!!!
Avery
Avery
11 months ago
Cue the sob stories about the national parks being closed and the poor kids who can’t get into museums in DC.
Just send everyone an app on their phone to print their own funny money, or for the oldsters, their own HP printers. Or Paul Krugman can go door-to-door handing out ‘trillion dollar coins’.
Rules from a game invented ` 100 years ago:
“The Bank collects all taxes, fines, loans and interest, and the price of all properties which it sells and auctions. The Bank “never goes broke.” If the Bank runs out of money, the Banker may issue as much as needed by writing on any ordinary paper.”
Avery
Avery
11 months ago
Reply to  Avery
The ‘policy-wonk staffers’ in DC also stole this part for the CARES ACT, peon version –
Each player is given $1500 divided as follows:
2 $500’s, 2 $100’s, 2 $50’s, 6 $20’s, 5 $10’s, 5 $5’s, and 5 $1’s.
All remaining money and other equipment go to the Bank.
Zardoz
Zardoz
11 months ago
Reply to  Avery
Last time this happened, I was working as a military contractor. All the soldiers got sent home without pay, and we continued on like nothing happened. It was embarrassing.
So the soldiers will most likely get boned again. Is that a sob story?
Lisa_Hooker
Lisa_Hooker
11 months ago
Reply to  Zardoz
Did any take their AR15 and 9mm home with them?
RonJ
RonJ
10 months ago
Reply to  Lisa_Hooker
AR 15’s are an “assault style” rifle, which are not to be confused with the M16, that soldiers use, which is an actual assault rifle.
Lisa_Hooker
Lisa_Hooker
10 months ago
Reply to  RonJ
Thanks for the correction Ron. I was just kidding. I don’t believe they could take their Beretta 92FS or select fire M16 or M4 home. I would have preferred an M14 as .22s are pretty much for plinking – except for the .220 Swift and the .22-250.
paperboy
paperboy
10 months ago
Reply to  Zardoz
years ago when it happened to me we got a short vacation and received back pay anyway since “it wasn’t their fault” they told us
EndTheFed
EndTheFed
11 months ago
So you’re saying that stocks can rally every day from now until August on hopes of a debt ceiling resolution? Hooray! I may not be able to do anything about the political gridlock in this country, but I can certainly profit from it.
PreCambrian
PreCambrian
11 months ago
There is no spoon.
Bam_Man
Bam_Man
11 months ago
KlownWorld, where somehow they are given $6 Trillion+ a year to spend.
Zardoz
Zardoz
11 months ago
Reply to  Bam_Man
Money is a purely abstract thing. It’s only scarce if we want it to be.
Lisa_Hooker
Lisa_Hooker
11 months ago
Reply to  Zardoz
Unfortunately labor and food are not abstract.
MikeC711
MikeC711
11 months ago
My understanding (please do correct me if I’m wrong as it is hard to read thru the vitriol spewing from both sides) that the big issue is that the white house wants to raise the debt ceiling with no strings attached relative to adding fiscal responsibility to the plan and looking for cost savings. If this is true and the wanted to paint the republicans into a corner … they could come up with a serious list of cost cuts that they are OK with and then, instead of fiscal responsibility vs insanity … it would be our cuts vs your cuts.
Bam_Man
Bam_Man
11 months ago
Reply to  MikeC711
To call it “Kabuki Theatre” is an insult to Kabuki’s.
shamrock
shamrock
11 months ago
Reply to  Bam_Man
Republicans want the spending cuts, let them specify which ones. They won’t, and Dems won’t, because any proposed cut is used against you in the next election.
Lisa_Hooker
Lisa_Hooker
11 months ago
Reply to  MikeC711
The Democrats want to be able to spend whatever amount of money they feel like spending.
The Republicans don’t have a clue as to exactly what they want.
Siliconguy
Siliconguy
11 months ago
This whole show isn’t even popcorn worthy.
Jack
Jack
11 months ago
Reply to  Siliconguy
We have all seen this before.
Sequels are never as good as the original.
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
11 months ago
Thank you Bob Elliott for mentioning prioritization. They can kick the can quite a bit further.
The REAL story is Yellen will need to restock Treasury cash position once debt situation resolved. Restock will be to the tune of ~ $1trillion in (high yield) treasury bills. And with banks trying to keep demand deposits with low yield? Very telling that Yellen yesterday told large bank CEOs to expect more mergers (under duress … as more small / medium banks get flushed). Federal Reserve’s weekly balance sheet update yesterday revealed Bank Term Funding Program* continues to grow.
*on loan shark terms … growing usage reveals stress still in the system … will only worsen (big time) when Yellen floods the market with t-bills.
RonJ
RonJ
11 months ago
The real X date was when the Roman Empire finally collapsed.
RonJ
RonJ
11 months ago
The American people are play toys for the politicians.
Bam_Man
Bam_Man
11 months ago
Reply to  RonJ
More like sex toys.
Zardoz
Zardoz
11 months ago
Reply to  Bam_Man
Ew. I don’t want to go in there…

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