Senators skeptical of positive outcome from Biden-McCarthy debt meeting.

Congressional leaders agreed to narrow a bicameral negotiation down to Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden, hoping fewer players might be more productive in reaching a bipartisan deal to raise the debt ceiling. However, some Senate Democrats are pessimistic about McCarthy's capacity to negotiate and advance a deal. While Republicans continue to demand significant funding cuts in exchange for helping to lift the debt limit, many Democrats still say they aren’t actually negotiating on the debt ceiling at all. Instead, they say they’re merely holding a concurrent negotiation on the budget that could enact spending caps, take back unused Covid money, ease energy permitting and potentially change work requirements for aid programs.