evidence: President Biden met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., last week as the two sides remain far apart over increasing the country’s borrowing power. The U.S. reached the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling last month, prompting the Treasury Department to start taking "extraordinary measures" to allow the country to continue paying its debts, which are expected to run out in June. [...] "My administration has cut the deficit by more than $1.7 trillion — the largest deficit reduction in American history," Biden said. "Under the previous administration, the American deficit went up four years in a row. Because of those record deficits, no president added more to the national debt in any four years than my predecessor." "Nearly 25% of the entire national debt, a debt that took 200 years to accumulate, was added by that administration alone," he continued, met by boos by the Republican side of the room. "How did Congress respond to all that debt? They lifted the debt ceiling three times without preconditions or crisis. They paid America’s bills to prevent economic disaster for our country. Tonight, I’m asking this Congress to follow suit."