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US House Speaker McCarthy says debt ceiling talks with Biden ‘productive,’ but no deal yet

The speaker pointed out that certain issues still needed to be worked out

WASHINGTON, May 23. /TASS/. US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said after meeting with US President Joe Biden that the leaders’ conversation on raising the national debt ceiling was ‘productive,’ but no agreement had been reached yet.

"I felt we had a productive discussion — we don't have an agreement yet, but I did feel the discussion was productive in areas that we have differences of opinion," he told reporters outside the White House after the meeting. "We're going to have the staffs continue to get back together and work based on some of the things that we had talked about."

The speaker pointed out that certain issues still needed to be worked out.

"We do have disagreements," he said, referring to Biden’s push to raise taxes to help reduce the federal budget deficit. However, according to McCarthy, he and the president "both agree that we need to change the trajectory, that our debt is too large."

The speaker also pointed out that, "the tone tonight was better than any other time we've had discussions."

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United States Joseph Biden

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