U.S. President Joe Biden and top lawmakers agreed to further talks aimed at breaking a deadlock over raising the 31.4 trillion dollars U.S. debt limit, with just three weeks before the country may be forced into an unprecedented default.

After about an hour of talks in the oval office, Biden and House of Representatives Speaker Kevin Mccarthy committed their aides to daily discussions about areas of possible agreement as a default looms as soon as June 1.

Biden urged the republicans to take the threat of default off the table. And he did not rule out eventually invoking the 14th amendment to the U.S. constitution, an untested approach that would seek to declare the debt limit unconstitutional.

Economists warn that a lengthy default could send the American economy into a deep recession with soaring unemployment while destabilizing a global financial system built on U.S. bonds. Investors are bracing for impact.

Past debt ceiling fights have typically ended with a hastily arranged agreement in the final hours of negotiations, thus avoiding a default.