In a high-stakes meeting about the debt limit on Wednesday, President Joe Biden met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on two key matters: Outlining which spending cuts he and his GOP conference are looking for in exchange for increasing the country’s borrowing power, and getting his commitment to avoid a first-ever default on the nation’s debt.

After the meeting, McCarthy told reporters it was a "good" first conversation that did not end in any new agreements, but he also said he believes that he and Biden can find "common ground."

The meeting was the latest in the standoff between the White House and House Republicans over the country’s borrowing limit after the U.S. reached the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling earlier this month.

The Treasury Department has begun using “extraordinary measures” to fund operations and allow the country to continue paying its debts, which are expected to run out in June.

Asked by reporters after Wednesday's meeting, McCarthy would still not say which budget cuts he wants. Republicans want to tie the debt ceiling increase to spending cuts, saying that they would only raise the limit to secure an overhaul in federal spending. They have not yet specified their desired cuts.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday repeated that the White House wants the debt ceiling lifted "without conditions," as has been done dozens of times in the past under both Republican and Democrat majorities.

"There is a basic duty to lift the debt ceiling," she said, which is necessary for the U.S. to pay its debts from past spending.

McCarthy on Wednesday compared the nation's debt to a credit card bill.

"You're responsible for paying that credit card, but the responsible thing, too, is going forward, not just raise the limit but look at how you're spending," he said.

The California Republican said that he and Biden spoke for an hour: "He gave me his perspective. I gave him our perspective."

In a statement, the White House said that Biden and McCarthy had a "frank and straightforward dialogue" and the two men covered a wide range of issues. The president emphasized to McCarthy "that he is eager to continue working across the aisle in good faith," citing examples of bipartisan legislation passed in the first two years of his administration.

"President Biden made clear that, as every other leader in both parties in Congress has affirmed, it is their shared duty not to allow an unprecedented and economically catastrophic default," the White House statement reads. "The United States Constitution is explicit about this obligation, and the American people expect Congress to meet it in the same way all of his predecessors have. It is not negotiable or conditional."

Biden, the White House said, "welcomes a separate discussion with congressional leaders about how to reduce the deficit and control the national debt while continuing to grow the economy."

The two leaders agreed to continue the discussions, but it was unclear when they would meet again.

Asked this week about the meeting, Biden previewed a similar message for McCarthy: “Show me your budget, I’ll show you mine.”

The debt ceiling was lifted three times under Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump. Lawmakers on the left are pushing McCarthy to present his plan for spending cuts.

"For days, Speaker McCarthy has heralded this sitdown as some kind of major win in his debt ceiling talks," Senate Majority Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on Wednesday. "Speaker McCarthy, if you don't have a plan, you can't seriously pretend you're having serious any real negotiations."

"We know why the Speaker has struggled and is unable to produce a plan, is delaying it or avoiding it," Schumer added. "He doesn't have the votes for one, in all likelihood."

White House officials have warned that not raising the debt ceiling would have a devastating impact on the global economy.

In a memo from National Economic Council director Brian Deese and White House budget chief Shalanda Young this week: “Raising the debt ceiling is not a negotiation; it is an obligation of this country and its leaders to avoid economic chaos.”

“In Wednesday’s meeting, President Biden will seek a clear commitment from Speaker McCarthy that default … is unacceptable,” they continued. 

The Democratic president and the California Republican have traded barbs at one another throughout the process, with both sides blaming the other for the impasse.

McCarthy responded to the White House's memo in a Twitter post on Tuesday, writing: "I’m not interested in political games. I’m coming to negotiate for the American people."

At a political event on Tuesday, Biden called McCarthy a "decent man" who has bowed to the pressure from far-right members of his conference, making "commitments that are just absolutely off the wall for a speaker of the House to make" in exchange for the speaker's gavel.

McCarthy, for his part, called Biden's negotiating position "childish."

With other prominent Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., backing McCarthy to lead the party's negotiations on raising the debt ceiling, Wednesday's meeting could prove crucial to reaching an agreement. The Kentucky Republican made it clear last week that any deal would have to be negotiated between the president and the speaker.

"We are all behind Kevin," Leader McConnell said Tuesday ahead of the meeting between Biden and McCarthy.

In an interview with CBS News on Sunday, McCarthy did not specify what cuts his conference is seeking, but rather sought to slam Democrats and the president for reckless spending.

"I want to find a reasonable and a responsible way that we can lift the debt ceiling, but take control of this runaway spending," the California Republican told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, adding: "I don’t think there’s anyone in America who doesn’t agree that there’s some wasteful Washington spending that we can eliminate."

In their memo, the two economic advisers noted that Biden will release his budget on March 9, which will aim to demonstrate how the president "plans to invest in America, continue to lower costs for families, protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare, and reduce the deficit – with tables and numbers showing exactly how his economic and fiscal policies add up to achieve these goals."

A recent poll suggests that taking a hard-line stance against President Biden appeals to a majority of McCarthy's party. A Pew Research survey released Tuesday shows that 64% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents want the party's leaders to stand up to Biden and Congressional Democrats, even if it makes it more difficult to address the country's problems, compared to 34% who want the party to work with the White House, even if it results in disappointment for some GOP voters.

Conversely, the survey found that 58% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents want President Biden to work with the GOP and find compromise, compared to 41% who want him to stand up to them on issues important to left-leaning voters.