Biden considers canceling visit to Australia over US debt dispute Pakistan police officer shoots down school bus, girl dead

US President Joe Biden is considering shortening his upcoming trip abroad due to a looming budget crisis in the United States. National Security Council communications director John Kirby announced in Washington on Tuesday that he would travel to the G7 summit in Japan on Wednesday as scheduled. Whether Biden will also travel to Papua New Guinea and Australia after that has not yet been decided. The situation and the rest of the journey will be “reassessed,” Kirby said.

The background to this is that the US government is in danger of bankruptcy within days unless the Biden administration agrees with the Republicans in the US Congress on raising the debt ceiling. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that this could happen as early as June 1. Shortly before his departure, on Tuesday afternoon (local time), Biden wanted to meet again with senior Republicans and Democrats in the White House because of the unresolved dispute.

Kirby said he does not expect the looming fiscal crisis to dominate talks with Biden abroad. Biden is able to resolve foreign and security issues while working with leaders in the US Congress to raise the debt ceiling to avoid a default.

From Friday to Sunday, the G7 group of the seven leading democratic industrialized countries will meet this year in Hiroshima, Japan. From there, after a short stopover in Papua New Guinea, Biden wanted to travel to Australia for a meeting of the so-called Quad Alliance. (sda/dpa)