President Joe Biden and Rep. Kevin McCarthy are scheduled to meet today
in the Oval Office at 3:15 p.m.

Keep your expectations in check. 

“Boring,” a top White House official said, when we asked about the first
one-on-one session between the president and new House speaker. “First
meeting of a hundred to follow.”

McCarthy has set a similarly low bar. “I think the first thing he should
do,” McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday, “especially as president of the
United States, is say he’s willing to sit down and find a common ground
and negotiate together.”

The White House released a memo setting its own limited priorities for
the meeting, saying Biden will pose two questions to McCarthy today:

- “Will the Speaker commit to the bedrock principle that the United
States will never default on its financial obligations…?”
- “When will Speaker McCarthy and House Republicans release their
Budget?”

Playbook co-author Rachael Bade stops by to explain what she'll be
watching for when Biden and McCarthy meet later today.

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Raghu Manavalan is the host and senior editor of POLITICO's Playbook
Daily Briefing.
Jenny Ament is the executive producer of POLITICO Audio.