Democrats and Republicans were very close to hammering out a final debt ceiling deal Friday night, but the pact fell apart when neither side could get the guarantees they wanted.
The hope was for negotiators to finish some text last night, which would let House Republicans begin to run their three-day procedural clock as soon as possible to schedule a vote.
Fox News Digital is told congressional leaders will aim to get text out this afternoon. A senior House GOP source said the new June 5 default deadline from the Treasury Department is giving both sides “more breathing space but also unintentionally slowing this process down.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has repeatedly said the House would have “72 hours” before it debates and votes on a bill, not necessarily “three days.” If text comes out this afternoon, the House could conceivably vote to raise the debt limit late in the day on Tuesday. But the House may still need a little more time than that.
Sources say a GOP ask for permitting reform for energy programs is out of the bill.
Democrats appear unwilling to budge on stricter work requirements for government aid like Medicaid. Fox News Digital is told such a provision could “collapse the Democratic vote” for this plan.
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A successful deal is going to require an incredibly high level of trust between McCarthy and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., as to how many concrete votes both sides can deliver. Remember that both are a little new at this. It would not take much for the calculation to be off.
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US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York, speaks during a press conference about the debt ceiling negotiations on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, May 25, 2023. Ratings agency Fitch warned the US on May 24 that its perfect credit rating could be jeopardized if the White House and Republican opposition fail to overcome their impasse on raising the nation’s borrowing limit, a week before a key deadline. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
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