Debt ceiling crisis: Biden's meeting with congressional leaders crucial.

President Biden and congressional leaders, including top Republicans, will meet to negotiate a resolution to avoid an unprecedented economic calamity of a default. Republicans want to link spending cuts with an increase in the debt ceiling, leaving an impasse the two sides have been unable to overcome. Biden is open to separately discussing the spending cuts Republicans are seeking as part of the budget process but is not willing to negotiate over the debt ceiling itself. The meeting is seen as a major step forward, as the White House has so far refused to negotiate over the debt ceiling itself.