by Top Republican negotiator says deal could come in ‘hours or days’
Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, one of the top negotiators for House Republicans, told reporters Saturday morning that a deal could be reached in “hours or days.”
“You know, this is not how I anticipated the final hours, the days would go. But we are getting to a very limited set of issues that need to be addressed,” he said. “We’ve had a long list for a long time. What I didn’t anticipate is that we would have a very short list for a long time.”
McHenry, who has for some time described the final issues at stake as the “thorniest,” declined to set a timetable for when a deal might be reached.
McHenry said the new June 5 deadline certainly gives negotiators some breathing space, but he also said it makes it very clear that the job needs to be done soon: “I think this makes it clear that our schedule is very tight.”
The Republican lawmaker added that while the negotiations have been difficult and everyone is fatigued, that won’t stop them from finishing the job.
“I think we’re all tired. But that doesn’t mean we’re willing to take something that we think is not acceptable,” he said.
Debt ceiling deadline moved to June 5
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen yesterday pushed up the deadline to act or risk defaulting on the debt ceiling to June 5 after repeatedly warning that the United States could run out of cash to pay the bills.
“Based on the most recent data available, we now estimate that the Treasury will have insufficient resources to meet government obligations if Congress does not raise or suspend the debt limit by June 5,” Yellen wrote to leaders Friday. congressional.
The Treasury Department reached the legal borrowing limit in January and has been using “extraordinary measures” to pay the country’s bills ever since, he said.
The June 5 deadline is more accurate than his earlier estimate that the debt ceiling could be breached “potentially as soon as June 1.”
