WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Barack Obama is stepping directly into stalled debt talks, inviting Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican leader Mitch McConnell separately to discussions Monday.
The White House meetings, announced Friday by press secretary Jay Carney, would seek to pick up where stalled negotiations headed by Vice President Joe Biden left off. Republican negotiators abandoned those talks Thursday over Democrats' insistence on including tax increases in any deficit-reduction plan.
McConnell has been insisting that Obama become personally involved in the budget discussions.
Congressional Republicans want an agreement on about $2 trillion in spending cuts over 10 years before agreeing to raise the nation's borrowing limit, currently capped at $14.3 trillion.
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