The New York Times is reporting that top White House officials and Republican lawmakers were closing in on a deal aimed at averting a federal default that could come as early as June 1.
The Times reported Thursday that the deal “would raise the debt limit for two years while imposing strict caps on discretionary spending not related to the military or veterans for the same period.“
The Times wrote:
The deal taking shape would allow Republicans to say that they were reducing some federal spending — even as spending on the military and veterans’ programs would continue to grow — and allow Democrats to say they had spared most domestic programs from significant cuts.
Negotiators from both sides were talking into the evening and beginning to draft legislative text, though some details remained in flux.
“We’ve been talking to the White House all day, we’ve been going back and forth, and it’s not easy,” Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters as he left the Capitol on Thursday evening, declining to divulge what was under discussion. “It takes a while to make it happen, and we are working hard to make it happen.”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that the federal government is in danger of default as early as June 1 if the debt ceiling is not raised.
The Times, citing three people familiar with the plan being worked out, said it would raise the debt ceiling for two years, pushing it past the 2024 election. In exchange, the deal would meet Republicans’ demand to cut some federal spending.
The Times said the spending cuts would be done “with the help of accounting maneuvers that would give both sides political cover for an agreement likely to be unpopular with large swaths of their base voters.”
The Times cautioned that the plan “had yet to be finalized, and the bargainers continued to haggle over crucial details that could make or break any deal.”
Members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus have expressed opposition to a compromise that would only make modest spending cuts.
Here is a Twitter thread on the topic: