OnPolitics: Could Mitch McConnell be Joe Biden's key to debt limit negotiations?

Hi there OnPolitics readers! This week is expected to restart the debt ceiling negotiations.

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will meet tomorrow along with other top congressional leaders, ending the three-month standoff over the looming debt ceiling deadline.

While talks previously stalled between Biden and McCarthy on a deal to avoid the government from defaulting on its payments, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, could be a key player.

Why McConnell?: Biden has showcased his ability to work with McConnell, Maureen Groppe writes, noting that the most significant compromise the pair has brokered during their decades long relationship may have been the 2011 deal to avoid a default while Biden was vice president.

McConnell insists he’s not a player in these negotiations, but Democrats view him as one.

Why does this matter again?: Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned last week that the government could default on its debt as early as June 1 for the first time in U.S. history if Congress doesn’t agree on a plan to raise the debt ceiling. And economists have warned that if the country defaults on its debt, it could have catastrophic results.

👁️‍🗨️ Keep reading: 'The luxury of shuttle diplomacy': McConnell could use ties to McCarthy and Biden to end debt fight

🗽 'A constitutional crisis': Janet Yellen warns against using 14th Amendment to end debt limit fight

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