US leaders work to avoid debt default crisis.
President Joe Biden and top Republicans and Democrats from Congress are set to sit down this week to try to resolve a three-month standoff over the $31.4 trillion U.S. debt ceiling and avoid a crippling default before the end of May. The Democratic president is calling on lawmakers to raise the federal government's self-imposed borrowing limit without conditions. Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy has said his chamber will not approve any deal that does not cut spending to address a growing budget deficit. Analysts do not expect an immediate deal to avert a historic default, which the Treasury Department has warned could come as soon as June 1.