House Dems take pessimistic tone on debt as McCarthy pushes to ‘finish up’ talks

House Democrats, whose votes will be needed to pass any debt deal that steers the nation away from a painful default next month, are beginning to sound the alarm as White House-GOP talks stretch on.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries struck a pessimistic tone on Wednesday, shortly after Speaker Kevin McCarthy dispatched his Republican negotiators to the White House to continue the talks.

“It’s increasingly clear to me that House Republicans are intent on crashing the economy and defaulting on our debt,” Jeffries told reporters. “That’s wrong. It will hurt everyday Americans in the brinkmanship.”

He cited several recent developments in the talks between McCarthy's emissaries and President Joe Biden's in darkening his outlook on the high-stakes negotiations — including comments like Rep. Matt Gaetz's (R-Fla.) comparison of the standoff to hostage-taking and the growing influence of former President Donald Trump.

With just eight days until the U.S. could breach the debt ceiling, McCarthy said his team of Republican emissaries, led by Reps. Garret Graves (R-La.) and Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), would try to “finish up” talks on Wednesday; still, they returned to the Capitol Wednesday with no substantive update.

House members are slated to leave town Thursday for a week-long Memorial Day recess.

McCarthy also acknowledged the two sides are still far apart on a proposal, but added that the White House meeting with the negotiators that wrapped just after 4 p.m. Wednesday was positive.

"I think we've made some progress working down there. So that that's very positive ... and we'll continue to work through to try to get a solution," he told reporters in the late afternoon.

While Democrats have agreed to freeze spending through the next fiscal year, Republicans have insisted on reducing federal funding to pre-pandemic levels — amounting to roughly $131 billion in cuts. Further complicating matters, Democrats complain that Republicans have actually sought an increase in one part of the federal budget: the Pentagon.

It’s not the only major area of disagreement. GOP and Democratic negotiators are also at odds over Republican proposals on stricter work requirements for social programs — another issue that has been threatening to derail talks for days. McCarthy accused Biden and Democrats of hewing to their far left rather than negotiating.

“It’s not my fault that the Democrats today have been so extreme, so far to the socialist wing, that they are so opposed” to GOP proposals on work requirements and spending cuts, the speaker said. The White House, however, has insisted that GOP negotiators have been inflexible on work requirements, a nonstarter for many Democrats. And Biden officials say Republicans even stepped up their asks over the weekend, demanding a new cut to food assistance programs that wasn’t in the GOP’s initial debt limit and spending cuts bill.

Democrats also say McCarthy and his team have refused to consider revenue increases to offset the U.S. deficit, including closing tax loopholes for the wealthy.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who chairs the Progressive Caucus, said Wednesday that the White House had told her Republicans had rejected a number of Democratic proposals, including elimination of a private equity tax benefit known as "carried interest," an end to tax subsidies to oil companies, an increase in the number of drugs whose prices are negotiated by Medicare, and the implementation of minimum taxes for corporations and billionaires.

McCarthy told reporters Wednesday that he has told Biden he will not raise taxes: “There will not be a tax increase in this bill. And we have to spend less than we spent last year."

Lawmakers will be told they can go home for Memorial Day weekend after votes Thursday but to be prepared to come back to D.C. in case there's a debt limit deal, a person familiar with the matter confirmed.

Jordain Carney, Olivia Beavers and Daniella Diaz contributed.