A months-long standoff between the White House and congressional Republicans over raising the debt ceiling to prevent a U.S. default could derail Joe Biden's upcoming meeting with allies in Japan and Australia.
The US president is expected to leave Washington for Hiroshima on May 17 for a meeting of the leaders of the Group of Seven nations. On May 22, he will travel to Sydney for the Quad Summit and stop briefly in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, to meet with Pacific Islands Forum leaders. The meetings have been touted as opportunities to deepen cooperation on regional challenges and advance U.S. strategic interests in countering Chinese influence.
White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said at Friday's briefing that Biden "is expected to leave." Earlier this week, Biden said he was determined to move forward, but resolving the debt-ceiling impasse was "top priority" on his agenda. It depends on the status of those negotiations, he White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said at Friday's briefing that Biden "is expected to leave." Earlier this week, Biden said he was determined to move forward, but resolving the debt-ceiling impasse was "top priority" on his agenda. Depending on the status of those talks, he said he may or may not participate "virtually."
This is not the first time a US president has missed a summit because of a domestic budget dispute. Obama canceled the 2013 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Indonesia and the Brunei East Asia summit because of a government shutdown over budget disagreements, and Bill Clinton pulled out of the 1995 APEC-Japan meeting, also because of the debt-ceiling dispute.
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