for part of the day on Friday before resuming later that night. A final agreement is increasingly seen as one that hinges on a deal between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Biden, and the two are expected to talk by phone Sunday during Biden’s return flight to Washington. After huddling with fellow Republican negotiators at the Capitol on Saturday, McCarthy said it would be difficult for talks to resume before Biden gets back from his trip to Asia.
“They actually want to spend more money than we spent this year,” McCarthy told reporters Saturday. “We can’t do that. We all know how big this deficit is.”Biden said Democrats have already cut spending and would continue to do so, but he argued that the fundamental question is what spending baselines negotiators should use.
Biden aides offered what they viewed as a key concession by proposing that Congress largely hold spending constant on a wide swath of domestic programs, including education, scientific research and housing aid. The president’s negotiators also proposed essentially holding military spending flat for next year.