Sunday shows preview: Pressure is on to raise the debt ceiling, even with extension

With just over a week until the U.S. potentially goes into default, the down-to-the-wire negotiations to raise the debt ceiling will likely dominate the Sunday talk show circuit once again.

The White House and Republican lawmakers had yet to announce a deal as of Saturday afternoon, but both sides suggested on Friday night that they were nearing a compromise.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday gave lawmakers a hard deadline of June 5 to raise the debt ceiling and prevent a potentially catastrophic default. Yellen had previously said the country would run out of money to pay its bills in early June, possibly as early as June 1.

While this gives negotiators some breathing room compared to the June 1 date, it also represents a hard deadline.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who is set to join “Fox News Sunday” this weekend, vowed on Saturday that Congress will meet the June 5 deadline.

However, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), a top Republican negotiator, warned that it could be “hours, or days” until an agreement is reached, as a “narrow set” of sticking points remain between the two sides.

“Nothing is done,” he said on Saturday. “The interplay between all the issues on the table makes even a short list more complex, because we’ve tried to balance this in a smart way, recognizing that a Democrat president has to sign this thing.”

Further complicating the timeline, McCarthy has promised to stick to the 72-hour rule he agreed to during his Speakership fight earlier this year, meaning that the full text of the legislation will need to be available to lawmakers for three days before it can go to a vote.

“Everybody won’t like what is the end of the agreement … on both sides,” McCarthy said. “But … at the end of the day, I think people should see what that product is before people vote on it.”

Democratic lawmakers have also warned that they won’t automatically back any deal that President Biden reaches with McCarthy. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is set to join CBS’ “Face the Nation” this weekend, said on Thursday that it would be a “miscalculation” to assume that such a deal would “trigger a sufficient number of Democratic votes,” especially if it “undermines our values.”

“We’re not going to take a deal that hurts working people,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), head of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said on Wednesday. Jayapal will make an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

Below is the full list of guests scheduled to appear on this week’s Sunday talk shows:

ABC’s “This Week” — Preempted for coverage of the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix

NBC’s “Meet the Press” — Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.); former Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.)

CBS’ “Face the Nation” — Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.); Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft; Austan Goolsbee, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

CNN’s “State of the Union” — New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R); Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.); Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison

“Fox News Sunday” — Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.); Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.); Reps. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.)

Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” — Reps. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) and Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas); former national security advisor Robert O’Brien; Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel