Members were advised to remain flexible for next week in case they have to return to vote for a new debt limit bill. McCarthy stated that the White House is adamant about raising taxes and increasing spending, but by a smaller amount than they would prefer.
This aligns with reports that White House negotiators have countered Republicans' demand to cut spending to 2022 levels and cap it at 1% growth for the next decade with an offer to freeze current spending levels into the next fiscal year, with caps for one or two following years.
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McCarthy urged House Republicans to "stick together" and keep negotiating, but he did not provide any "points of agreement" forged between the White House and House GOP negotiators. The U.S. government is likely to run out of cash to pay all of its obligations in roughly a week. McCarthy later told reporters that "we're not there yet" in terms of a deal.
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On Monday evening, McCarthy and President Biden held their first bilateral meeting on the debt limit since February, with teams for both sides continuing to work on a compromise afterward. However, it appears that both sides are still far apart on Tuesday morning, although McCarthy expressed optimism that a deal could still be reached by June 1.
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"They still want to spend more money next year than we spent this year. That's a red line," the speaker said. "We could still finish this by June…we're trying to condense everything in a short time frame. The House passed the bill. The Senate never passed a bill. So now it's more difficult, because of what else we have to negotiate from a lot of different perspectives. But we can still finish in time."
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