Democrats, worried about a Biden-McCarthy deal, push a backup plan to avoid default

Some Democrats on Capitol Hill are growing increasingly worried that President Biden will give into too many demands from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in continuing talks over a deal to avoid a historic debt default.

After a second White House meeting earlier this week, and staff talks in the last couple of days, Biden and McCarthy both expressed optimism that a deal could get done.

"I see the path that we could come to an agreement. And I think we have a structure now and everybody's working hard," McCarthy told reporters Thursday morning....