Watch live: GOP senators hold briefing on debt ceiling

Republican Sens. Rand Paul (Ky.), Mike Braun (Ind.), Ron Johnson (Wis.), Mike Lee (Utah) and Rick Scott (Fla.) on Wednesday will host a press conference on the debt ceiling in the Senate Radio and TV Gallery.

The U.S. hit its debt ceiling last week and began enacting “extraordinary measures” to avoid a default that could be catastrophic for the U.S. economy.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has said that solving the debt limit is a problem for Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and President Biden to work out.

“I can’t imagine any kind of debt ceiling measure that could pass the Senate would also pass the House, so even though the debt ceiling could originate in either the House or the Senate, in this current situation, the debt ceiling fix, if there is one, or how it’s to be dealt with, will have to come out of the House,” McConnell said this week.  

House Republicans are seeking to force significant spending cuts, which the White House and Democrats oppose.

McCarthy has said he wants to sit down with Biden, who has agreed to meet with the Republican leader, but no timetable has been announced.

The Speaker also said that giving the Treasury Department authority to hike borrowing without add-on GOP conditions is “off the table.”

The event is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. ET.

Watch the video above.