President Joe Biden and top Republican Kevin McCarthy are due to meet at the White House on Monday for talks on lifting the US debt ceiling.
The pair spoke on the phone on Sunday as the president was traveling back from the G7 summit in Japan.
The two sides remain at odds over budget cuts demanded by the Republicans as a condition for raising the ceiling.
The debt ceiling is a spending limit set by Congress that determines how much money the government can borrow.
Dispatches From The Front 
The leaders of both parties will have to compromise fir an agreement to be reached. Both will have to give up on some issues they now say are off the table. They need a bigger table. And smaller egos.
The worst thing is not losing some pet projects or goals but going into default.