GOP Negotiator McHenry: Remaining Issues Are Challenging

Manu Raju at CNN has reported comments from Republican negotiator Patrick McHenry (R-SC) offering a more pessimitic assessment of debt limit negotiations with the White House.

• McHenry: “There is forward progress. But each time there's forward progress, the issues that remain become more difficult and more challenging... So that is step-by-step, small step-by-small step and at some point, this thing can can come together or go the other way."
• Raju: "Asked him about resolving the sticking point of work rules on safety net programs — and whether that’s standing in way of a deal 'Everything's complicated. Everybody wants the details but the larger issue here is an agreement that changes the trajectory of our nation's finances.'"
• McHenry told Fox News' Chad Pegram: "We are in the middle of a lot of different conversations and a lot of different paper coming back and forth... the details are thornier. The consequences are greater."
• McHenry: "We’ve got to be in the closing hours because of the timeline, and I don't know if that's. I don't know if it's the next day or two or three. But this has got to come together."