Debt ceiling negotiations updates between Joe Biden, Kevin McCarthy

WASHINGTON — Talks on raising the U.S. debt ceiling resumed on Wednesday, with the two sides still far apart, with just eight days left to pass a bill, the earliest date the U.S. could risk a serious default.

At the Capitol, House Republicans and White House negotiators are expected to resume talks in a conference room next to the office of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, where they have spent hours each day this week.

A Democratic official familiar with the situation told NBC News on Wednesday that the talks hit a “speed bump.”

But outside the Beltway, concerns were growing over whether negotiators would be able to strike a deal that cut government spending to win the votes Republicans need to pass a bill raising the debt ceiling by June 1.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Wednesday she had seen “some stress in financial markets” amid concerns that the U.S. could slip into its first-ever debt default.

Yellen told a Wall Street Journal event that pressures related to the debt ceiling have particularly affected the Treasury market. These signs of stress “should serve as a reminder of the importance of reaching an agreement in a timely manner.”

But after a week of daily meetings chaired by a group of seasoned negotiators, people on both sides said the gap between what House Republicans want and what the White House is willing to deliver appears to be wider than ever.

For example, one of the leading Republican representatives, Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, unmasked what he hadn’t hinted at until then on Tuesday night when a reporter asked him what concessions Democrats got in negotiations, for win their votes in the House of Representatives.

“The debt ceiling,” he said.

“That’s what they got,” added Rep. Garrett Graves of Louisiana, another Republican negotiator.

The notion that Democrats have been forced to accede to Republican demands over the past week, with Republicans offering only a chance to avoid a catastrophic debt default, will no doubt irritate Democrats and reduce the chances of a deal. Republicans have pushed for spending cuts as part of any deal to raise the debt ceiling, which itself would not authorize new spending.

A default would wreak havoc on the U.S. economy and force millions to lose government benefits, at least temporarily.

Negotiations have reached a clear breaking point for the second time in a week, and the chances of reaching a deal within the next 24 hours — in time for the House to turn the agreement into a bill and vote it by the weekend — look very slim, McCarthy seems Willing to let House members leave Washington for Memorial Day weekend without a deal.

“I haven’t made that decision yet,” he told reporters Tuesday, but added, “I’ll let them go home and come back, depending on the circumstances.”

Republicans only seemed to strengthen their position over time, with Democrats accusing McCarthy on Wednesday of bowing to pressure from the far right of the caucus. They said he had bowed to members who listed a long list of demands but were unlikely to vote to raise the debt ceiling, whatever it contained.

A Democratic official told NBC News that Biden proposed compromises that included a spending freeze, unspent COVID funding and a two-year spending cap.

But McCarthy dismissed those concessions.

“Let me be very clear, we’re not going to put anything on the floor that costs no less than what we spent this year,” he said Tuesday.

This is a developing story, please check back for updates.