McCarthy: It Didn't Seem Like It Would Be This Hard

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has delivered a press conference on debt limit negotiations to reporters on Capitol Hill.

• The presser can be reviewed here: LINK (YouTube)
• McCarthy: "I'm sending our negotiating team down to the White House to try to finish up the negotiations with the White House. There's a number of places that we are still far apart...
• McCarthy: "I think we can make progress today."
• McCarthy added: "It didn't seem like it would be this hard..." and says Democrats could have raised the debt ceiling in the previous Congress because, "they knew we were taking power."
• McCarthy again states that he believes the White House must agree to "spend less this year" than last year saying, "its not that difficult to do."
• McCarthy continues: "The offramp here is to solve the problem. To spend less than we spent last year..."
• McCarthy says, regarding claims he can't get a deal through the House due to opposition from conservative Reps: "They're wrong. You underestimate me the whole time.... can we get to 'yes?' Yes," he says.
• McCarthy says he has offered the White House "lots of concession," but Democrats are "too extreme" to accept them.