U.S. President Joe Biden summoned bank and business leaders to White House talks on Wednesday, part of a strategy to pressure Republicans in Congress to vote for a debt ceiling increase.
The White House said leaders of JPMorgan Chase & Co, Intel Corp, Citigroup, Bank of America, Raytheon Technologies Corp, Nasdaq Inc and Deloitte would meet with Biden.
Biden plans to “detail the Republican obstruction that has led us to this point,” according to a memo circulated by the White House. The head of the AARP, a powerful lobby group for older Americans, will detail the impact on social programs for the elderly brought on “by a Republican-created default and the resulting economic catastrophe,” it says.
Republicans want Democrats to raise the debt ceiling using reconciliation, a process that does not require Republican votes; Democrats have refused, saying Republicans should vote to raise the limit, since the debt includes about $8 trillion in spending approved during Republican Donald Trump’s presidency.
