Biden and McCarthy clash over debt talks and social security protection.

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy confronted President Joe Biden about the lack of negotiations on the $31.4tn US debt ceiling last week and told him he is putting the economy at risk. Republicans want to use the debt ceiling to exact spending cuts from the White House, while Biden wants the debt ceiling raised without strings attached. The political standoff has raised concerns about a possible first-ever default sometime this summer, when the Treasury is expected to exhaust its ability to keep government borrowing below the congressionally enacted ceiling.