Republican congressional leaders said Thursday they were moving toward a deal with President Biden to raise the debt ceiling while cutting spending, warning that a deal still being negotiated would inevitably disappoint lawmakers of both parties.
Chairman Kevin McCarthy, the California Republican, told reporters on Capitol Hill that negotiators had worked “well past midnight” and resumed negotiations later Thursday morning, trying to find a resolution to avoid a breach of pay off the nation’s debt before the June 1 deadline. He said there were still “unfinished business” and that he had ordered his negotiators to work “24/7” until there was a deal.
“I don’t think everyone is going to be happy at the end of the day,” McCarthy said, nodding to growing concerns from some far-right Republicans that his party was making too many concessions in the talks. “That’s not how this system works.”
Democrats were also increasingly anxious that Biden would go too far by agreeing to Republican demands, including spending cuts and tougher work requirements on public benefit programs. They were meeting at noon at the Capitol to discuss the status of the negotiations.
Biden at the White House on Thursday afternoon tried to reassure markets and the public, noting that he and congressional leaders had agreed there would be “no default.” But he, too, criticized House Republicans, saying of their debt limit bill: “I won’t agree to that.”
“Speaker McCarthy and I have very different views of who should bear the burden of additional efforts to put our fiscal house in order,” Biden said. “I don’t think the entire burden should fall on the shoulders of working-class and middle-class Americans.”
Lawmakers were preparing to leave Washington later Thursday for the Memorial Day holiday, but talks were expected to continue through the weekend and members of Congress were set to return and vote on whether to reach a deal. .
Rep. Patrick T. McHenry of North Carolina, one of McCarthy’s key negotiators, said there were still “thorny issues” to be resolved, including spending caps, an issue he acknowledged was a “difficult issue” for the democrats.
“We have legislative work to do, political work to do,” McHenry said. “The details of all of that really matter for us to get it done.”
“We don’t have a deal yet, so until we do, I don’t think we know exactly what the coalition will look like to get it passed,” said Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota, a senior McCarthy ally. “But listen, Kevin McCarthy understands how conservative his lecture is. He will deliver a deal that will be accepted by the vast majority of his conference.”
As negotiators neared a deal, far-right Republicans were openly expressing concern that McCarthy would sign a compromise they would view as insufficiently conservative. Several right-wing Republicans have already vowed to oppose any commitments to stray from cuts that were part of his debt-limit bill, which would cut domestic spending by an average of 18 percent over a decade.
“Republicans shouldn’t do a bad deal,” Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, an influential conservative, wrote on Twitter shortly after telling a local radio station that he “would have to have some frank talks with my colleagues and leadership. team” because he didn’t like “the direction they’re headed.”
Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina said he was reserving judgment on how he would vote on a compromise until he saw the bill, but added: “What I’ve seen now is not good.”
Former President Donald J. Trump, who has said Republicans should force a default if they don’t get what they want in negotiations, also weighed in. McCarthy told reporters that he had spoken briefly with Trump about the negotiations: “It just came up for a second,” the speaker said. “He was talking about, ‘Make sure you get a good deal.'”
After playing a tee shot at his golf course outside Washington, Trump approached a New York Times reporter, iPhone in hand, and flashed a call with McCarthy.
“It’s going to be an interesting thing, it’s not going to be that easy,” said Trump, who described his call with the speaker as “quick little chat.”
“They’ve spent three years wasting money on bullshit,” he added, saying, “Republicans don’t want to see that, so I understand where they’re at.”
Luke Broadwater and Stephanie Lai contributed reporting from Washington, and Alan Blinder from Sterling, Virginia
