President Joe Biden told reporters he happily would talk with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., but held firm that raising the debt limit was "not negotiable."
At the end of a press conference with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Biden maintained his rigid stance and pointed to former Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump as examples.
"I'm happy to meet with McCarthy, but not on whether or not the debt limit gets extended," Biden said at the White House Rose Garden. "That's not negotiable."
It comes as the president has pushed for a "clean" debt-ceiling increase without a slate of concessions demanded by House Republicans, including cuts to discretionary spending and repeals of the Inflation Reduction Act.
However, Republicans are confident they can get enough votes on their $1.5 trillion Limit, Save, Grow Act in the House to force additional negotiations in the Senate.
"With the discussions that I’ve been in, I think that we can get 218," Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., a Freedom Caucus representative who was present during negotiations on the bill, told The Hill.
"I think we're going to come up with something good out of the conference that cuts spending, makes significant reforms, and puts us a step closer towards fiscal stability as a country," he added.
Biden's Office of Management and Budget wrote in a statement of administration policy Tuesday that it opposed the measure, declaring that the president would veto it if it passes Congress.
"The bill stands in stark contrast to the president's vision for the economy," the statement read. "The president's budget invests in America, lowers costs for families, grows the economy, and reduces the deficit by nearly $3 trillion by asking the wealthy and large corporations to pay their fair share."
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