--- title: Republicans Tout Progress on Debt Ceiling Negotiations description: GOP leadership said progress has been made on debt ceiling negotiations but issues remain, and time is running out before a possible default. canonical: https://time.com/6282836/debt-ceiling-negotiations-progress-republicans/ author: Nik Popli article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-05-25T18:55:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:23:56.400Z article:section: Politics og:title: Republicans Tout Progress on Debt Ceiling Negotiations With Time Running Out og:description: McCarthy warned that a potential agreement would require a level of compromise likely to disappoint both parties. og:url: https://time.com/6282836/debt-ceiling-negotiations-progress-republicans/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd315bd0f78385d2c/698a3d5c22fb8568a2e2eb7b/GettyImages-1257988628.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Debt Limit Negotiations Continue As United States Put On Credit Watch og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Republicans Tout Progress on Debt Ceiling Negotiations With Time Running Out twitter:description: McCarthy warned that a potential agreement would require a level of compromise likely to disappoint both parties. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd315bd0f78385d2c/698a3d5c22fb8568a2e2eb7b/GettyImages-1257988628.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Republicans Tout Progress on Debt Ceiling Negotiations With Time Running Out > Sponsored content. 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The Biden Administration remains locked in a standoff with congressional Republicans over raising the federal debt ceiling, just two weeks before the nation is set to default on its obligations for the first time. The U.S. government hit its congressionally imposed $31.4 trillion borrowing limit in January, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the country could run out of cash as early as June 1 if Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are unable to reach a deal to raise the debt ceiling._  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer May 25, 2023 6:55 PM UTC House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says he's sending Republican negotiators to the White House to finish out debt limit talks. But he's warning that the two sides are “still far apart” as they try to reach a budget deal with President Joe Biden.  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer May 25, 2023 6:55 PM UTC House Republican leaders on Thursday signaled that they were making progress toward a bipartisan deal with President Joe Biden to raise the debt ceiling, but warned that a potential agreement would require a level of compromise likely to disappoint both parties. Speaking to reporters at the Capitol, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said that negotiators had worked “well past midnight” and would continue to meet until they find a resolution to avert a default on the nation’s debt ahead of the projected June 1 deadline. But he said there are still “outstanding issues” holding up the negotiations. “I don’t think everybody is going to be happy at the end of the day,” McCarthy said about members of his party worried he will make too many concessions in the final deal. “That’s not how this system works.” At the same time, anxiety has been [growing in some Democratic circles](https://time.com/6282188/democrats-biden-folding-debt-limit/) that Biden would go too far in accepting Republican demands. The two sides remain at odds over a GOP proposal to cut spending by imposing [tougher work requirements](https://time.com/6276193/republicans-work-requirements-debt-ceiling/) for federal aid programs and introducing caps on future spending. Negotiators have been at an impasse over how much the federal government should spend next year and for how long to cap spending after that, with Republicans demanding a 1% cap on annual spending for six years while the White House has signaled it would agree to freeze discretionary spending next year and increase spending by 1% in fiscal year 2025. Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, a key McCarthy ally who has been a part of the negotiations, said he does not expect a deal will be made on Thursday, adding that there are still “thorny issues” yet to be resolved. “We have legislative work to do, policy work to do,” he said. “The details of all that stuff really are consequential to us being able to get this thing through.” As negotiators inch closer to an agreement, the contours of a possible deal have been slowly taking shape. The two sides have discussed a framework for an agreement that would claw back some $30 billion in untapped COVID-19 relief money and approve permitting reforms for energy development, according to those familiar with the talks. Some hard-right Republicans, however, have expressed concern that McCarthy’s negotiators would retreat from the additional spending cuts they included in the House-passed debt limit bill last month, such as revoking Biden’s student loan forgiveness program and scrapping swaths of the [Inflation Reduction Act](https://time.com/6204582/inflation-reduction-act-climate-change/). “That certainly doesn’t get me excited,” Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, a conservative member of the House Freedom Caucus, told reporters on Thursday. Biden and Democrats, meanwhile, have said those provisions are a non-starter and continue to push back on any attempt to undo their legislative accomplishments as part of a deal to raise the debt limit, accusing Republicans of holding the nation’s economy “hostage.” Former President Donald Trump, who has said that Republicans should force a default if they do not get what they want from the White House, spoke with McCarthy on Thursday about the negotiations. “He was talking about, ‘Make sure you get a good agreement,'” McCarthy said of their brief conversation. Even if McCarthy can get his members to sign off on a potential bipartisan deal in the House—no easy task with a slim majority of just five votes—any bill to raise the debt limit would then have to pass the Senate. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, the conservative chair of the Senate Republican Steering Committee, said Thursday [on Twitter](https://twitter.com/BasedMikeLee/status/1661716721575804928) that any deal McCarthy makes “will not face smooth sailing in the Senate” if it doesn’t include substantial spending and budgetary reforms, vowing to “use every procedural tool” available to him to delay a compromise bill. Further complicating matters, a group of 35 House GOP members wrote a letter to McCarthy on Thursday afternoon urging him to hold the line on spending cuts while adding additional requests for the final bill, including border provisions and an end to funding for the FBI’s new headquarters. The letter signals that a compromise bill may fracture the unity McCarthy has created within his party since his [marathon 15-round speakership vote](https://time.com/6245390/mccarthy-elected-house-speaker-kitchen-sink/). But negotiators are in danger of running out of time. [Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen](https://time.com/6282370/yellen-debt-ceiling-banks/) has said the government might be unable to cover all its payment obligations as soon as next Thursday, and two prominent credit ratings agencies have warned that they could downgrade the U.S. government’s coveted AAA debt rating in the event of a default—an outcome that could result in higher interest costs. Lawmakers are set to leave Washington on Thursday for the Memorial Day holiday without a deal, though talks are expected to continue into the weekend. Congressional leaders have instructed members to be on call to return for a vote should a deal be reached. McCarthy has said that a deal must be reached this week to have enough time for legislation to pass through the House and Senate. Under legislative rules, House lawmakers have 72 hours to read the bill once the text is released, though that rule has been waived in the past. ## Transcript [00:00] Condiments are warning that the US is on the precipice [00:02] of economic Calamity. [00:03] If the government can't come together and raise the federal [00:06] debt limit, now, this isn't the first time, [00:08] the US has been in this situation. [00:09] We've been here before and the debt-limit crisis has always [00:13] been resolved by Congress, but this year's B is turning out to [00:16] be a lot more messy than previous years. [00:18] And since this debt ceiling is one of the few must pass pieces [00:21] of legislation. Both parties have to use this issue as an opportunity [00:25] to take a political stand and exact concessions to cut back [00:29] on government spending, it would cause the government to [00:31] default on its legal obligations for the first time in history, [00:35] creating a financial crisis and threatening jobs for everyday [00:39] Americans. It could even potentially put the US get risk of a recession. [00:47] The only country that has a debt ceiling is Denmark the debt [00:51] limit or the debt. [00:51] Ceiling is a cap on the total amount of money that the federal [00:55] government is authorized to borrow to fulfill its Financial Obligations. [00:58] Everything at the government spends, money on military [01:02] to Social Security, and Veterans Benefits has to be funded, [01:06] either through tax revenue, or debt. [01:08] And for the last two decades, the US has been running a budget [01:11] deficit. Adding 25 trillion dollars in debt. [01:14] So the treasury Department now says that the government [01:17] could be unable to issue new debt and pay its bills as early [01:20] as June 1st. [01:21] But Congress has always acted when called upon to raise. [01:24] The debt limit has 1960 Congress. [01:27] Acted 78 separate times to permanently raise temporarily [01:30] extend a revised the debt limit. [01:32] The debt ceiling has become an increasingly political issue [01:36] in recent years, especially when power in Washington is divided [01:39] as it is right now, Republicans control the house and Democrats [01:43] control the presidency in the Senate. [01:44] Democrats have been very United on this front. [01:47] I have insisted from the beginning that they won't accept [01:50] any concessions attached to a deal and continue to blame Republicans [01:54] for taking the country's credit hostage in our stash. [02:01] Continue to me as we speak is not a fact and they're making [02:03] progress I made clear time and again to falling on a national [02:07] debt is not an option but that no negotiation strategy, [02:11] may be impractical with the June 1st deadline approaching [02:14] in less than two weeks. [02:14] The number of places that we are still far apart. [02:17] I mean, it didn't seem like the economy, [02:21] plays a pivotal role in how Americans cast their ballots. [02:24] So, the outcome of these debt limit discussions, [02:27] could shape. What happens in 2024, particularly if Biden was [02:31] unable to raise the debt limit before defaulting, [02:33] or if he accepts concessions that undo, [02:35] his legislative accomplishment, for instance, progresses. [02:38] My see him as weak. [02:39] If he accepts, the GOP is proposed, [02:41] work requirements for federal aid. [02:43] This is a very big moment for Joe Biden. [02:45] And as my colleague, Phil Elliott, remarkably little of it is [02:49] under his sole control. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6282836/debt-ceiling-negotiations-progress-republicans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6282836/debt-ceiling-negotiations-progress-republicans/"},"headline":"Republicans Tout Progress on Debt Ceiling Negotiations With Time Running Out","datePublished":"2023-05-25T18:55:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T07:23:56.400Z","description":"McCarthy warned that a potential agreement would require a level of compromise likely to disappoint both parties.","url":"https://time.com/6282836/debt-ceiling-negotiations-progress-republicans/","keywords":["Congress","News","uspoliticspolicy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd315bd0f78385d2c/698a3d5c22fb8568a2e2eb7b/GettyImages-1257988628.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nik Popli","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/nik-popli/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd315bd0f78385d2c/698a3d5c22fb8568a2e2eb7b/GettyImages-1257988628.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Debt Limit Negotiations Continue As United States Put On Credit Watch","caption":"Debt Limit Negotiations Continue As United States Put On Credit Watch","creditText":"Kent Nishimura—Los Angeles Times/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/congress/","name":"Congress"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6282836/debt-ceiling-negotiations-progress-republicans/","name":"Republicans Tout Progress on Debt Ceiling Negotiations With Time Running Out"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Says He’s Sending Negotiators to White House to Finish Debt Limit Talks","description":"House Speaker Kevin McCarthy says he's sending Republican negotiators to the White House to finish out debt limit talks. 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