Biden rushes back to Washington for debt-ceiling negotiations.

For the debt limit talks, President Biden rushed back to Washington overnight. In a few hours, he will meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy at the White House once more.

There are now fewer than 10 days remaining to find an agreement and avert a disastrous default.

Before the president flew to Japan, House Republicans demanded significant expenditure reductions. He told reporters that the latest Republican proposal was "unacceptable". President Biden stated, “I can't guarantee that they wouldn't force a default by doing something outrageous. I can't guarantee that. I think there are some MAGA Republicans in the House who know the damage that it would do to the economy. And because I am president and the president is responsible for everything, Biden would take the blame. And that's the one way to make sure Biden is not reelected.”

While the president was traveling home on Air Force One, Biden and McCarthy had a productive conversation, according to McCarthy.

In order to be in Washington for what is going to happen today, the president cut his vacation short and cut off two important legs of the trip.

President Biden returned to Washington in much the same way that he left it, without a clear resolution in sight to avert a default in as little as ten days. But a little later today, President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will meet for another crucial discussion, underscoring the severity of the situation.

Yesterday, they had a phone conversation as the president was flying back on Air Force One. And as a result, last night on Capitol Hill, representatives from both sides came to the negotiating table.

For roughly two and a half hours, the two sides met. When it comes to trying to establish a budget deal, they try to work through some of the quite significant disagreements that still exist. One of the main grounds of contention has been the level of expenditure. The White House wants to maintain current levels, while Republicans want to reduce spending and return to the fiscal year 2022.

But the president made it clear over the weekend that in his opinion, the Republican Party's new proposals, which were put forth over the weekend, amount to extreme stances. And according to the White House, Republicans need to understand that a bipartisan agreement is required, meaning some movement from GOP principles and a willingness to compromise.

But the fact remains that Speaker McCarthy and President Biden are under severe time pressure.

Janet Yellen, the secretary of the Treasury, reiterated her belief that the United States could declare bankruptcy as early as June yesterday.

To prevent a default, officials like President Biden and Speaker McCarthy must act immediately. This is why it is important to first emphasize the seriousness of the issue and how quickly things are moving. But for now, it appears that the discrepancies are still very noticeable and substantial.

In the House, McCarthy holds a razor-thin majority. How does this affect the way he approaches this meeting?

He simply doesn't have the negotiation leverage that he would have if he had a larger Republican majority, and he must be aware that if he truly strikes a deal with President Joe Biden, he will lose the support of conservatives.

And in these talks, the decision of whether or not he will be ready to perhaps risk losing his speakership for that deal is looming huge. The fact that these two men's connection is extremely new also looms huge. They haven't actually had that much one-on-one time.

They never spent that much time together during the first two years of Biden's presidency when McCarthy was still in the minority at that point.

Therefore, whether or not their relationship can actually complete this agreement is currently very much in doubt.

The weekend's conversations were sporadic, with back-and-forth trading between the two parties. proposals that the opposing side claimed were unreasonable.

There is a big question mark over whether or not they will actually be able to move forward. There isn't much time left to finish this. To review a plan and vote on it in the Senate, the House of Representatives would need at least 72 hours to do so. It might take even more time.

However, Kevin McCarthy noted over the weekend that he had been preparing for the possibility that the Senate may require seven days. They might require less than that. But that just gives you a sense of how short we are running on time.