GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "NewsHour."

Ten days now stand between the U.S. and a catastrophic default on the nation's debt.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said late today that the U.S. will likely have enough reserves to push off a potential default until June 5.

The previous deadline was June 1.

The announcement provides some breathing room for the ongoing talks.

Leigh Ann Caldwell is a Capitol correspondent for The Washington Post and joins us now with the latest.

Leigh Ann, it's always great to see you.

So this announcement from Treasury means that lawmakers now have a four additional days to arrive at a deal, pass it through both chambers of Congress, and send it to President Biden's desk.

How does this new deadline affect the ongoing negotiations?

LEIGH ANN CALDWELL, The Washington Post: Hey, Geoff.

So that's right.

They do have -- there's a couple things here.

They have a few more days, because, originally, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said it will could be as early as June 1.

So, June 5 is now the definitive date.

That's something that Congress didn't have before.

While -- so it does perhaps give them a few more days.

I will say though, what Republican leadership are saying, Kevin -- Patrick McHenry, the congressman from North Carolina, who's helping McCarthy lead these negotiations, told reporters a little bit ago that now his Republican Conference, who has been skeptical about the date anyway, now has something definitive.

And so now he can urge everyone to act a little more quickly, Geoff.

GEOFF BENNETT: You mentioned the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy.

He's been saying for days now that both sides are negotiating in good faith, that progress is happening.

But one of the GOP negotiators who's actually in the room doing these talks with the White House, Congressman Garret Graves, he spoke to reporters earlier today and said there's still a ways to go.

REP. GARRET GRAVES (R-LA): There are outstanding issues.

We are not there.

But I think we have really identified where the biggest differences are.

And I think the bottom line is, it comes down to whether or not we are going to default on the American debt, we're going to default on seniors with Social Security and Medicare, or -- and have the Democrats continue to say that we're going to prioritize welfare payments for people that are refusing to work.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, in that last part there, he's referring to work requirements for some federal safety net programs.

That has emerged as a real sticking point.

What else are both sides negotiating?

LEIGH ANN CALDWELL: Well, they are all saying that there's no deal until everything's agreed to.

I will say there has been a little bit of a vibe shift from last night and this morning.

My sources are telling me that they were pretty optimistic that they were going to be able to wrap this up relatively quickly today, maybe tomorrow.

Things now -- as the day progressed, the afternoon progressed, things seem to have clamped down a little bit.

There's not as many good signs, there's not as meant much talking from the team of negotiators.

So, everything -- it could be at this crucial point where things are a little bit stuck.

They're trying to get those last final details.

But work requirements is a big one.

This is something that is extremely important to Republicans.

They are wanting additional work requirements for these social safety net programs, while Democrats are practically drawing a red line on this issue.

They say that work -- additional work requirements are just unacceptable.

So it could be really hard to work this out, Geoff.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, Leigh Ann, as you well know, reaching an agreement is really only half of the challenge here, because progressive Democrats and far right Republicans are suggesting they might not be able to vote for any sort of compromise.

Are there enough votes in the so-called middle to get this thing across the finish line?

LEIGH ANN CALDWELL: That's a great question, but the middle is where the votes have to come from.

It's long been thought that the far right, the House Freedom Caucus, is probably not going to support any sort of compromise.

The same could be said for the left as well.

And so that is the challenge that these negotiators have, is finding -- we could call it the Goldilocks method, finding the perfect center, not too hot and not too cold, but that perfect combination of things that enables the center to find 218 votes.

That's what they need.

It's going to come from Republicans.

It's going to come from Democrats.

And they just have to tweak this proposal, this legislation, in order to find it.

GEOFF BENNETT: We have got about 20 seconds left, Leigh Ann.

And we should say there is no backup plan here if they're not able to arrive at a deal.

LEIGH ANN CALDWELL: There is no backup plan.

They are going to have to arrive at a deal, and they don't have a lot of time, because after you get a deal, you have to write legislative text.

It has to go through the House of Representatives and then the Senate.

That could take some time, Geoff.

So we're still many steps away.

GEOFF BENNETT: Leigh Ann Caldwell of The Washington Post, thanks so much for your reporting and your insights.

LEIGH ANN CALDWELL: Of course.