The Hill, a US daily newspaper, reported that the White House on Friday night tempered its optimism about ongoing talks with Republicans over a budget agreement to increase the debt ceiling, acknowledging that the two sides have "serious differences" as the weekend approaches.
"We have serious differences and this will continue to be a difficult conversation," press secretary Karen Jean-Pierre told reporters in Japan, where President Biden is attending the G7 summit.
Jean-Pierre added, "We're optimistic, and the president's optimistic that we'll get to reasonable budget negotiations, a budget agreement here, a bipartisan budget agreement. This is something that the House and Senate have to get through. It's going to need both Democrats and Republicans."
The newspaper pointed out that the White House and Republican negotiators have changed their tone since Thursday when House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) suggested that a deal might be within reach, and the White House announced “steady progress” in meetings between the negotiators.
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