President Biden is expected to ask Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy about the federal budget cuts the GOP is seeking in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.

President Biden is expected to ask Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy about the federal budget cuts the GOP is seeking in exchange for raising the debt ceiling.  The White House wants more details about the budget cut request, as well as assurances from McCarthy that the GOP-controlled House of Representatives will prevent a potential default. Biden and McCarthy are set to meet on Wednesday. In a letter released on Monday, 24 Republican senators said that they will not vote for any bill to increase the debt limit unless it includes spending cuts or "meaningful structural reform in spending." However, Republicans have not yet specified what programs they want to cut and by how much. GOP lawmakers are in a tight spot, as the programs that take up the largest shares of the federal budget — Social Security and Medicare — are popular among older conservative voters. In a memo, the White House said it plans to release the federal budget on March 9 and urged McCarthy to publish his budget proposal, "so that the American people can see how House Republicans plan to reduce the deficit." Progressives are increasingly advocating for the U.S. Treasury to mint a trillion-dollar coin as a way of bypassing the debt ceiling and paying the federal government's expenses without adding to the national debt. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen threw cold water on the plan last week when she said that she doesn't believe the Federal Reserve would accept a $1T coin, even if the Biden Administration tried to mint one.