Jamie Dimon says US ‘probably’ won’t default on debt after Schumer meeting
Emily Jacobs
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JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said the United States will “probably” not default on its debt after a meeting with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) at the Capitol on Wednesday.
Dimon and Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser’s meeting in the majority leader’s office comes two weeks before Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the U.S. will be unable to pay its bills and as negotiators struggle to reach a deal on spending cuts in exchange for a debt limit increase.
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“The U.S. should not and probably will not default,” Dimon told reporters while leaving the Capitol midday Wednesday. “Whatever it is, we will be prepared.”
Dimon, who declined to answer numerous shouted questions about the substance of the meeting, revealed that JPMorgan Chase had set up a war room that was ready to respond if the U.S. defaults.
Fraser, meanwhile, did not answer any questions from reporters after the meeting.
Speaking to Bloomberg News after Dimon and Fraser left, Schumer said he “asked them to make sure that they tell everybody that default should not be an option.”
The debt ceiling, or the top amount the federal government can borrow, will either need to be raised or abolished sometime next month to avert a debt default. Economists have long warned that such a default would wreak havoc on the economy.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was able to hold enough of the House Republican Conference together to pass his debt ceiling budget proposal, which is meant to serve as an opening salvo in negotiations with the White House, late last month. President Joe Biden, backed up by Senate Democrats, stood firm in his refusal to negotiate over the debt limit for months.
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The White House has decried the bill as an attempt at political “hostage-taking” and vowed that Biden would veto it if it reached his desk, though the likelihood of such legislation passing the Senate, in which Democrats control the chamber 51-49, is slim.
Negotiations picked up in recent weeks as the deadline approached, though no deal has been reached. Asked on Sunday about the Biden team’s most recent conversations with congressional Republicans, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said that talks had been “constructive between all of the parties. I know the president looks forward to getting together with the leaders to talk about how we continue to make progress.”