US Credit Rating at Risk Amid Intensifying Debt Ceiling Negotiations and Political Partisanship

Fitch Ratings has placed the United States' triple-A status on "rating watch negative," adding urgency to ongoing debt ceiling negotiations between the White House and congressional Republicans. The warning came just hours after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy sought to calm jittery financial markets. Negotiators appeared to have made little discernible progress in more than a week of near round-the-clock talks, with only seven days to go before the United States faces an imminent threat of debt default.