McCarthy deputy says debt-ceiling talks are ‘up and down’

Debt-ceiling talks are “up and down,” Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina, a key deputy for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, told reporters on Friday. “We are in the middle of a lot of different conversations and a lot of different paper coming back and forth, and as I said, the details are thornier, the consequences are greater,” McHenry said. “The leaks don’t serve getting an agreement that changes the trajectory of the country,” the GOP congressman also said, in an apparent reference to reports revealing elements of the emerging debt-limit deal. When asked if negotiators could bring matters to a close on Friday, McHenry responded by throwing his hands up.