Nancy Mace Blasts Biden's Upcoming Trip As 'Problematic' Amid Debt Limit Negotiations

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) on Tuesday called on President Joe Biden to cancel his upcoming trip to Asia to continue negotiating with Republicans about the debt ceiling ahead of a possible default on June 1.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are scheduled to meet with congressional leaders, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), at the White House at 3 p.m. Tuesday to continue talks they started last week.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) are also set to be in attendance.

But Mace suggested a weeklong trip Biden has planned is poorly timed.

“I think it’s deeply problematic given the trajectory that we’re on right now and how close we are to [the] June 1 deadline that the president is traveling out of country,” she told “CNN This Morning.” “He should be here, on the Hill, working with Republicans and Democrats to strike some sort of a compromise.”

Biden is scheduled to fly to Hiroshima, Japan, on Wednesday for the Group of Seven Leaders’ Summit. He is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday, and will also visit Australia and Papua New Guinea as part of the trip, the White House has confirmed.

Meanwhile, Biden and Republicans continue to remain at odds over the debt limit. McCarthy has long called for cuts to spending in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, while Biden has said it should happen with no strings attached.

“It doesn’t seem to me yet they want a deal, it just seems like they want to look like they are in a meeting but they aren’t talking anything serious,” McCarthy told CNN.

Over the weekend, Biden struck a more hopeful tone, saying he remained “optimistic” about a compromise.

“I really think there’s a desire on their part, as well as ours, to reach an agreement, and I think we’ll be able to do it,” he told reporters Sunday.

This comes as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen reiterated in a letter to congressional leaders Monday that the U.S. government is set to run out of money as soon as June 1 if the debt limit isn’t raised.

“With additional information now available, I am writing to note that we still estimate that Treasury will likely no longer be able to satisfy all of the government’s obligations if Congress has not acted to raise or suspend the debt limit by early June, and potentially as early as June 1,” Yellen wrote.

She added that, as negotiations drag out, negative consequences follow, including a possible fall in the credit rating of the country.

In a tweet on Tuesday morning, Biden clearly spelled out what’s at stake if a deal isn’t reached on the debt limit.

“If House Republicans push us into default, 8 million jobs could be lost — destroying our economic progress,” he wrote.