Rep. Garrett Graves (R-L, L) and Rep. Patrick McHenry (R, L) speak to reporters on debt ceiling negotiations after the House Republican caucuses at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, May 23. (Republican). 2023.
Bill Clark | Cq-roll Call Inc. | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — Emergency talks to raise the U.S. debt ceiling appear to be nearing a deal on Thursday, just seven days before the U.S. faces an imminent threat of default.
But negotiators warned that the final stages of negotiations are likely to be the most delicate and difficult for both sides.
Republican negotiator Patrick McHenry of North Carolina told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday, “We’re in a delicate stage and we have sensitive issues that remain. “It’s the most troubling issue we’ve ever discussed.” “Everyone is trying very hard to figure out the details of this issue, but nothing is progressing.”
McHenry said he wasn’t scheduled to meet in person with the White House negotiating team on Thursday, but he didn’t see that as a sign that negotiations were stalling.
“They have jobs in the White House and we have jobs here in the Capitol. I don’t know if we’re physically together, but there’s a set of things we need to work on. We are in agreement about that,” McHenry said.
read more: What Republicans are looking for in exchange for raising the debt ceiling
At the White House, President Joe Biden made a cautiously optimistic statement. “We believe the only way forward is a bipartisan deal that will allow us to move forward and reach a deal that will protect hardworking Americans in this country,” he said Thursday.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (Republican, Calif.) said he wasn’t sure if a deal would be reached on Thursday.
“We are already talking to the White House today, and we will continue to work,” he said after the House finished its final votes this week and prepared to leave town. “They are working on numbers, we are working on numbers and we will work together.”
An influential Republican lawmaker said he was optimistic about reaching a deal before the holidays. Rep. Kevin Hahn of Oklahoma, who heads the 156-member Republican Review Committee, said Thursday that he believes a deal is “highly likely” by Friday afternoon.
“We are getting closer and closer to an agreement. I think this is part of the finer details they are working on right now,” Hahn told Reuters. “There is a good chance that an agreement will be reached by tomorrow afternoon.”
Fitch warns about US credit ratings
Thursday’s talks were infused with a new sense of urgency after Fitch’s credit rating agency announced its triple-A rating for the US late Wednesday. “The watch has a negative rating.”
The agency also strongly suggested Fitch could cut its U.S. credit rating if Congress fails to reach a deal by the June 1 deadline set by the Treasury to raise or suspend the debt ceiling. bottom.
Another sign that a deal may be near is a series of additional demands for McCarthy from the most conservative bloc of House Republicans, something Republican leaders have been hoping for whenever talks come close to a compromise. there were.
On Thursday, 35 of McCarthy’s most vocal critics within the House Republicans spoke out. sent a letter He urged the Chair to abandon current consultations and put forward new, more polarized demands.
Members of the House of Representatives Liberals told McCarthy to leverage the threat of unprecedented default to get the White House to agree to extend the short-term debt ceiling through June, giving them extra time to extract more concessions from the White House. I asked to use it for Launch legislation, including the Border and Immigration Act, and launch a campaign to discredit Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
The letter did not suggest how any of these proposals could get past the Democratic-controlled Senate, a necessary step for legislation.
But Republicans weren’t the only ones showing signs of infighting this week.
House Democrats have stepped up criticism of the White House’s apparent choice not to disclose details of the meetings on a regular basis.
Tactically, it stands in stark contrast to McCarthy’s full-court PR press, which chats with journalists several times a day and appears on television almost every day.
The White House has tried to dodge criticism, saying Mr. Biden has been talking about the debt ceiling for months.
“We’ve been very clear over the last five months,” White House Press Secretary Carine Jean-Pierre said earlier this week. “I’m not going to just look at the last few days. I’ve been hearing from this president consistently over the past five months.”
On Thursday, White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zientz issued an unusual statement. Tweet About the debt ceiling.
“Even now, Republicans want to add $3.5 trillion in debt by extending President Trump’s tax breaks for the wealthy,” he wrote.What Zeentz didn’t say is that neither does Biden would like to extend those reductionsBut only for households earning less than $400,000, it will offset the cost by raising other taxes.
Shortly after Mr. Zientz’s tweet, Mr. Biden made a point of mentioning the debt ceiling talks at the White House, but he has yet to reveal much about the current state of the negotiations.
