House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Friday negotiators “made progress” on an agreement with the White House to raise the debt limit as they race to close out a deal ahead of a looming deadline to avert a potentially catastrophic default.
McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol that there is still more work to do.
The two sides are narrowing on a two-year agreement that would curb federal spending and lift the borrowing limit ahead of a deadline as soon as June 1 when Treasury could run out of money to pay the nation’s bills.
President Joe Biden and the Republican speaker hope to strike a budget compromise this weekend. Any deal would need to be a political compromise, with support from both Democrats and Republicans to pass the divided Congress.
A person familiar with the talks said the two sides are “dug in” on whether or not to agree to Republican demands to impose stiffer work requirements on people who receive government food stamps, cash assistance and health care aid, some of the most vulnerable Americans.
Yet both Biden and McCarthy expressed optimism heading into the weekend that the gulf between their positions could be bridged. A two-year deal would raise the debt limit for that time, past the 2024 presidential election.
House Republicans have pushed the issue to the brink, displaying risky political bravado in leaving town for the Memorial Day holiday. The U.S. could face an unprecedented default as soon as June 1, hurling the global economy into chaos.
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