ROLLING BACK SPENDING
The unexpected pause to the talks came just a day after McCarthy voiced optimism that he could get a bill on the floor by next week, although he indicated that an in-principle agreement would likely need to be in place by Sunday or Monday for that to happen.
On Friday, Republicans’ chief negotiators in the talks, congressmen Garret Graves and Patrick McHenry, abruptly left a negotiating session alongside McCarthy and have no plans to return, the Punchbowl News political website reported.
“We have a gap on many issues,” McHenry said, according to NewsNation.
The main sticking point was reportedly the rolling back of federal spending to 2022 demanded by House Republicans’ right-wing Freedom Caucus, which accounts for around a fifth of the membership.
In total, the cuts to federal agencies and programs demanded by Republicans in exchange for their support to lift the debt ceiling are worth around US$130 billion.
They also want to expedite domestic energy production projects, simplify the process for obtaining permits for pipelines and refineries and claw back unspent COVID-19 relief funding.
As the deadline draws closer, Democrats in both chambers of Congress have been voicing increasing disquiet over Republican demands, threatening to withdraw their support over proposals to impose tougher work requirements on recipients of certain benefits.
“Republicans are threatening to tank our economy unless we slash Medicare, evict thousands from public housing, & put almost a MILLION Americans out of work,” tweeted Congressional Hispanic Caucus leader Nanette Barragan.
“Their plan puts politics over people. We MUST pass a clean debt ceiling NOW.”
Joe Biden, who is at the G7 summit of world leaders in Japan, is cutting short his trip to the region and returning to Washington on Sunday to try to secure a deal.
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