McCarthy Downbeat On Debt Ceiling Progress Ahead Of Key WH Meeting

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has appeared to counter positive assessments from President Biden, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and NEC Director Lael Brainard on preliminary debt-limit talks ahead of a key White House meeting between Biden and the four leaders of Congress tomorrow.

• Manu Raju at CNN tweets: "...Speaker McCarthy just offered this assessment. “It doesn't seem to me yet they want a deal, it just seems like they want to look like they are in a meeting but they aren't talking anything serious."
• Raju continued: "McCarthy says they are still “far apart.” He said: “Seems like they want a default more than a deal.” McCarthy added they need a deal by "this weekend” in order “to have a timeline to be able to pass it in both houses."
• McCarthy remains the primary obstacle to political resolution. The other three Congressional leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), have stated publicly that they will not allow the US government to default on its debt.
• Time is becoming increasingly tight with 17 days until the Treasury Department’s worst-case-scenario June 1 ‘X-date.’ Both chambers of Congress are only in session together for four of those days.
• President Biden is scheduled to depart for Japan on Wednesday but his schedule is liable to change depending on the status of talks.