Amid the standoff over the debt limit and a looming default deadline, President Joe Biden has cancelled his scheduled travel to Papua, New Guinea and Australia in order to focus on the negotiations, the White House announced Tuesday.
Biden will still attend the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, and will return to Washington on Sunday.
"The President has made clear that members of Congress from both parties and chambers must come together to prevent default, as they have 78 times before," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement. "The President and his team will continue to work with Congressional leadership to deliver a budget agreement that can reach the President’s desk."
White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters at a press briefing earlier Tuesday that Biden would still travel to the summit as planned on Wednesday, but they were “reevaluating the rest of the trip.”
After the G7 summit, Biden was set to travel to Papua, New Guinea, before heading to Sydney for the Quad Leaders’ Summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Biden spoke to Prime Minister Albanese to inform him of the change of plans and invited him to the White House for a state visit, Jean-Pierre said in her statement. The White House also engaged with the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea’s team, she noted.
"Revitalizing and reinvigorating our alliances and advancing partnerships like the Quad remains a key priority for the President," she said. "This is vital to our ability to advance our foreign policy goals and better promote global stability and prosperity. We look forward to finding other ways to engage with Australia, the Quad, Papua New Guinea and the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum in the coming year."
Kirby's briefing took place shortly before Biden was set to welcome House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and other congressional leaders for a meeting on raising the country’s borrowing power.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Monday that the U.S. could default as soon as June 1, and time is running out for lawmakers to reach a deal that can pass both chambers of
“Given where we are right now, it’s also incredibly prudent and responsible for the president to take a look at the rest of the trip,” he added.
Speaker McCarthy questioned Biden’s decision to travel overseas with the debt limit standoff still unresolved.
"All I know is we've got 16 more days to go," McCarthy said earlier Tuesday of Biden's trip. "I don't think I would spend eight days somewhere out of the country.”
Kirby said that if the trip were modified, it should be seen as “nothing more than a statement of the president putting his priorities where they need to be” before charging that Congress could have taken action sooner to resolve the debt limit issue.
“We wouldn’t even be having this discussion about the effect of the debt ceiling debate on the trip if Congress would do its job and raise the debt ceiling, the way it’s always done,” he added.