Biden and McCarthy remain at odds after debt ceiling talks as deadline looms

It was both a sign of progress and an indication of the many hurdles that remain. The individuals designated by the White House — Steve Ricchetti, one of Biden’s longest-serving advisers and a key voice with Capitol Hill, and Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young — suggest the administration is ramping up its level of engagement with the Hill.

Still, the White House meeting Tuesday — the second in as many weeks — broke up with no agreement between Biden and GOP congressional leaders on a path forward to avoid default or any preliminary agreements on policy. Tea leaves were difficult to read, at least initially, but both McCarthy and Schumer left the meeting citing progress.

McCarthy said that the “structure” of the negotiations had improved. He also said that Republicans and Democrats remain far apart on a potential deal, though he believes it’s still possible to get to an agreement by the end of the week. He added that it was “unfortunate we are where we are.”

“I think we set the stage to carry on further conversations,” McCarthy said. “The president agreed to appoint a couple people from his administration to sit down and negotiate directly with my team so I found that to be productive.”

The White House also called it a “productive and direct” meeting in a written statement. “The President emphasized that while more work remains on a range of difficult issues, he’s optimistic that there is a path to a responsible, bipartisan budget agreement if both sides negotiate in good faith and recognize that neither side will get everything it wants,” the statement said.

Jonathan Lemire contributed reporting