the U.S economy is edging dangerously close to an economic disaster time is quickly running down on the June 1st deadline to avert a default on the nation's debt President Biden and GOP house Speaker Kevin McCarthy today resuming talks to temporarily raise the nation's borrowing limit the president cutting short an overseas trip to deal with the looming threat but speaker McCarthy earlier today told reporters negotiations are at a sensitive point the two sides still appear far apart the republican-led house insisting on current and future spending cuts in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling Democrats though argue Congress has already spent the money and America now needs to repay debt holders the stakes are high economists predict a default would likely trigger a recession and serious job loss Social Security checks might not go out New Jersey Congressman Josh gottheimer is co-chairman of the house problem solvers caucus he's been trying to find some common ground to help get a deal done and he joins me now Congressman Josh gottheimer thanks for joining us amid your busy schedule here I want to ask if you believe at this point as we come up against this very punishing deadline that all options should be on the table and that includes spending cuts that Democrats would have to consider well I think everything reasonable should be as part of the discussion right I mean nothing Draconian that would hurt people but actually what we need to do here is make sure we we do not default on our responsibilities on our bills and that's all this is right the government has a bunch of bills due it's like our credit card bill is due and some folks think we shouldn't pay our bills that's all the debt ceiling is and that's all default when people say defaulting on our debt it just means not paying the expenses we've already incurred and what would happen if we did that literally the full faith and credit the United States would be at risk people would lose money in their 401ks the markets could crash they could send us right into a recession and our standing in the world would be on the line and that's not an option that for our country the greatest country in the world and so now the question is how do we find an agreement where we can pay our bills well as a member of the problem solvers caucus would you push other Democrats to support a deal if it does include some of the spending cuts that the GOP is asking for well I think of course specifics matters you know in any agreement so it depends what the specifics are in that right I mean I think the president has proposed certain Caps or cuts um and those would make sense and other things that have been proposed are unreasonable right you're not going to take Health Care away from people on Medicaid who are hurting I mean I can take food away from those who need it um so certain things make sense and certain things don't but understand what this negotiation is about the other side has basically said what we're going to give you Democrats is making sure that we don't default as a country right so so that's their give and they want all these things in return so you know the challenging part is actually finding that middle ground that agreement um but again I'm talking to everybody and Democrats on the Republican side and and looking for that sweet spot where we can find an agreement and when we do I think we better get it done and done fast we should stay at the table 24 7 until we get there well but there's no other option right I mean you have the the treasury secretary saying the odds of reaching a June 1st deadline and still being able to pay our bills as a country you know are quite low what do you say to that what I worry about is the market starting to panic then authentic people's 401ks and pensions you could have Credit Agencies downgrade our country that happened in 2011 when we were stuck in a similar situation that's very costly to everything so we how we borrow money to the to our reputation in the world the only one who would win in that case is the government of China they want us to have egg on our face so there's a lot on the line here we we have to be everyone's got to be reasonable and that's all we're asking for is a reasonable bipartisan conversation because to get this done is going to take Democrats and Republicans one side can't solve this problem will you all meet that June 1st deadline I'm incredibly optimistic that we will I think it's going to be bumpy but I think everyone understands the stakes and what's on the line here we can't afford to default and not pay our bills as a country Congressman Josh gottheimer joining us thank you so much representative [Music]