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(WASHINGTON) — Unless Washington reaches a deal on the debt ceiling, government payments millions of Americans rely on each month could be in jeopardy in little more than a week.

While the deadline politics play out in Washington, the uncertain timeline of exactly what happens next — both with those payments and to people’s bank accounts — is only adding to growing anxiety.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen maintains the nation could be unable to pay all of its bills in early June, possibly as early as June 1, though the exact date remains unclear.

That means billions of dollars scheduled for programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as military salaries and veterans benefits, are at risk of going unpaid or being delayed if no agreement is reached.

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have been adamant the U.S. won’t default, but still remained “far apart” on a solution on Wednesday.

What would happen if they don’t is uncharted territory: The nation has never defaulted on its debt.

“Right now, we have to remain optimistic that a deal is going to be struck,” Rachel Snyderman, the senior associate director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, told ABC News.

“But this goes to show that there is a significant cost to brinkmanship over the debt limit, and the confusion and the concern these episodes inflict is is not helpful to American taxpayers who don’t have the luxury of choosing which bills they get to pay and don’t at the end of the month,” Snyderman said.

The Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank tracking federal cash flows, recently estimated a heightened risk for default between June 2 and June 13. If the Treasury can continue financing the government through June 15, the center and other analysts believe expected quarterly tax receipts will provide the government more time before default.

Payments at risk from June 1 to June 15

A major hurdle: Some $100 billion in payments are scheduled to go out June 1 and June 2, according to the think tank.

“We shouldn’t even be talking about this situation,” Biden said earlier this month as he warned such payments were at risk if a default occured.

The heads of the U.S. military services said during a Council of Foreign Relations panel this week their operations would be affected if the debt ceiling is not raised.

“We’ve got to make sure that our troops get paid,” said Gen. James McConville, the Army chief of staff.

McConville added, “You know, probably one of the best quotes I’ve ever heard was from a young specialist’s wife in the 101st Airborne Division. [During one of the last government shutdowns] when the government [said there might not be] paychecks, and they said said [troops and their families] will get paid retroactively — what she said is, ‘My kids can’t eat retroactively’.”

Emotions are running high.

Illinois Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky, during a news conference with the House Progressive Caucus Wednesday, passionately relayed concerns she said she heard from one of her constituents, “Janet,” who she said suffered from chronic mental illness and fears she won’t be able to pay for rent, food or medications.

“There are a million Janets all over the world who are sitting at home, if they understand what is going on, and watching to see what the Republicans are going to try to do to them,” Schakowsky said.

Possible contingencies?

There is no roadmap for a default, but some have said the Treasury Department could prioritize which payments to make and which to ignore.

The Republican-led House Ways and Means Committee earlier this year advanced a bill that would require the Treasury to first pay all principal and interest on the national debt, then all Social Security and Medicare benefits.

But officials, including the Treasury secretary, have expressed skepticism about whether such prioritization is possible or legal.

“I would say that our payment systems have been constructed in order to pay our bills, not to decide which bills to pay and which bills not to pay,” Yellen said Wednesday during a Wall Street Journal summit. “And so as a general matter, prioritization is not really something that’s operationally feasible.”

Asked whether Medicaid or Social Security checks would be prioritized after the “x-date” — or date of default — White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre emphasized prioritization is “not the plan.”

“It is a recipe for economic catastrophe,” she said on Wednesday.

Another potential option could be for the Treasury to delay all expenditures until there was enough revenue to cover an entire day’s worth of payments.

Chris Campbell, chief policy strategist at the financial services firm Kroll and a former assistant Treasury secretary, previously told ABC News that “in the extremely unlikely event that [default] occurs, I’m certain that the Treasury Secretary would have a series of options at her disposal to be able to work through the challenges should that occur.”

But Yellen on Wednesday reiterated the Treasury is “committed to not having missed payments and raising the debt ceiling.”

“We are not involved in planning for what happens if there is a default,” she said.

ABC News’ Luis Martinez and Chris Boccia contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — After three weeks of negotiations and eight days from a possible default, as of Wednesday there was still no breakthrough in talks to avert potential financial catastrophe as soon as June 1.

Shortly before noon, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters he was sending his House Republican bargaining team to the White House “to try to finish out negotiations.”

“There’s a number of places that we are still far apart,” he said. “I mean, it didn’t seem like it’d be this hard.”

Lead GOP negotiator Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina said he was “hopeful that we can get this resolved” as he left the Capitol, a notable shift from Tuesday night when he was clearly more frustrated. But he and his fellow negotiator Garrett Graves of Louisiana acknowledged there’s little time left.

The Republican team was seen leaving the White House after about fours and made no comment.

The House is set to leave Washington Thursday for a week-long Memorial Day recess, although members have been warned they could be called back.

“Look, you can start counting the days and there’s no question, we’re getting to crunch time,” said another GOP negotiator, Graves said. “We’ve been trying to look at things differently, trying to come up with new ideas. We recognize the urgency here, but we also recognize the House with a solid package on the table that saves funds.”

Earlier, as McCarthy made his way into the Capitol, ABC News Senior Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott asked him where things stand.

“I still feel they’re productive — the talks,” he said, but there were no signs the talk were any closer to a deal.

In fact, McCarthy said he has not spoken to President Joe Biden since Monday.

Both sides appeared to be waiting for the other to blink.

“I’m hopeful that they come back that they realize what the American public is telling them as well, that you cannot have the highest percentage of debt and spend the most amount of money while you’re getting the most amount of revenue in, that you got to change that behavior, just like you would do in any household,” McCarthy said. “And I’m hopeful as they come, if they come back today that they realize that.”

As the standoff over federal spending continued, the White House has offered to freeze spending while Republicans are demanding deep cuts, according to a source familiar with the discussions. McCarthy is “beholden” to MAGA extremists, the source said.

“Well, the point you have to make, here we are eight days away. Why are we here? The Democrats do not want to come off their spending addiction,” McCarthy said.

Asked how much in federal spending Republicans want to cut, he said, “Well, that’s part of negotiation. Democrats don’t even want to spend less, they want to spend more, that’s unreasonable,” he said.

He again made it clear increasing tax revenue is not on the table.

“Find ways to eliminate the waste. And that’s what we’ve been doing. That’s why on February 1, I sat with the president. That’s exactly what I said to him. We can’t raise taxes, and what’s he talking about now? We need to raise more because I want to spend more after you’ve already done that, you set all the records you want to set, once the Democrats took the majority, this is what they brought us. And in doing so they brought us inflation, hurting every family,” he said.

The frustration among some Democrats was palpable as over 20 members of the House Progressive Caucus voiced their concerns Wednesday over the debt ceiling negotiations.

“We will not let Speaker McCarthy burn the House to the ground and then try to get away with blaming the firefighters,” Caucus Whip Rep. Greg Casar said. “I will be clear, working families will not be taken hostage. Progressives will continue standing strong and we will do everything we can to hold them accountable.”

With time running short, caucus members are standing firm members in saying they will not support a deal that has stricter work requirements for some Americans getting government aid.

“Our overwhelming majority of Progressive Caucus members — of 102 members — answered that question already and said that is unacceptable,” chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., told ABC’s Scott.

“We have continued to make our position clear to the White House and I think you’ve seen that they’ve heard us and they’ve made a number of statements,” she said.

“The bottom line is we just don’t share their values,” Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts said of House Republicans. “And you know, and I have to tell you, if we’re not about defending the most vulnerable in this country, and helping to uplift them, then I don’t know what the hell we’re here for.”

Both Biden and McCarthy will need some House Democrats to help pass any deal.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Wednesday tripled down on her warnings that June 1 might be the day the U.S. could default on its debt, even, she said, if it’s “hard to be precise” about what happens around that date.

Yellen, speaking at a Wall Street Journal forum, was reluctant to discuss a “day-after” scenario in the wake of a U.S. default but allowed that Treasury would have to be ready to prioritize some bills over others.

She said payment prioritization is “not operationally feasible” — emphasizing how unprecedented a default would be.

ABC News’ Lauren Peller, Justin Gomez and Chris Boccia contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden, marking one year since the Uvalde school shooting, on Wednesday called on Republicans in Congress to act to end the “epidemic” of gun violence in the United States.

Before delivering somber remarks, Biden and first lady Jill Biden honored the lives lost with a display of 21 candles assembled at the base of the White House grand staircase.

“Remembering is important but it’s also painful,” he said with the first lady standing by his side. “One year ago today, Robb elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, turned into another killing field in America.”

Nineteen fourth graders and two teachers were killed when a gunman stormed Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022. Seventeen others were injured.

Biden renewed his call for an assault weapons ban, universal background checks, national red flag laws and other gun control measures.

“In over the last year since Uvalde, our country’s experienced a staggering 650 mass shootings. Well over, it’s hard to say, well over 40,000 deaths due to gun violence,” Biden said.

“We can’t end this epidemic until Congress has some commonsense gun safety laws to keep weapons of war off our streets and out of the hands of dangerous people,” he continued. “Until states do the same thing, how many more parents will live their worst nightmare before we stand up for gun lobbying?”

Biden on the day of the shooting in Uvalde spoke of how he was “sick and tired” of gun violence, saying we “can do so much more.” The shooting came 10 days after a gunman attacked a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, killing 10 people.

The president and the first lady traveled to Uvalde days after the shooting and met with the victims’ families.

“Standing there in Uvalde, Jill and I couldn’t help but think that too many schools, too many every day places have become killing fields in communities all across every part of America,” he said on Wednesday. “And in each place, hear the same message. Do something. For God’s sake, please do something.”

Biden also took a few moments Wednesday to connect with those grieving families by speaking to the loss of their son Beau, who died on May 30, 2015.

“Everyone’s pain is different,” he said, adding that one day their memory will bring a smile to their face “before it brings a tear to your eye.”

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday that the president believes the Uvalde shooting and the Buffalo supermarket shooting were the catalyst for Congress passing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

“While he’s very, he’s very appreciative of what Congress was able to do, there’s so much more to be done … We need to see Congress do something more, do more,” she told ABC News. “Put forward some commonsense, gun reform. That’s what these families deserve. That’s what they should be able to see.”

Biden emphasized Wednesday that “it’s time to act.”

“It’s time to make our voices heard. Not as Democrats or as Republicans. But as friends, as neighbors, as parents, as fellow Americans and I’m being deadly earnest when I say that,” he said.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden is expected to nominate Gen. “CQ” Brown, current Air Force chief of staff, to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a senior administration official said, elevating the four-star general to be the senior military adviser to the president and White House.

At 61, Charles Quinton Brown Jr. would succeed Gen. Mark Milley as chairman if the Senate confirms him, and would be the second Black Joint Chiefs chairman after Army Gen. Colin Powell. Also, for the first time in history, the Pentagon’s top two leaders, the current secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, and the Joint Chiefs chairman, would be Black men.

An Air Force F-16 fighter pilot who became an officer after completing his undergraduate degree in engineering in 1984, Brown rose through the ranks to become a general in 2009. He held senior leadership roles in the Middle East beginning in 2015, and in 2018 took command of Pacific Air Forces, America’s presence in the skies of the Indo-Pacific.

After being nominated by former President Donald Trump in 2020, the Senate confirmed Brown 98-0 to be chief of staff of the Air Force. His nomination now to lead the military’s service chiefs comes as Milley’s tenure comes to a mandated end in September. Milley came to have a notoriously strained relationship with Trump, who had chosen him to be chairman.

As Biden’s senior adviser in uniform, Brown would be called to contend with a growing Chinese military presence where he once led American airmen, the Indo-Pacific.

Heather Wilson, a former congresswoman and secretary of the Air Force who served with Brown, told ABC News his experience in the region makes him a good fit for the moment.

“There is no more important adversary or potential adversary now than China,” she said. “And he has that experience. I think even more than just understanding the strategic landscape of the Pacific, he has started to build relationships with our allies. And one of the things that America has that’s an advantage is that we have allies. China generally does not. Their neighbors are afraid of them.”

Brown’s personal character would be a plus, Wilson said.

“This position, if he’s confirmed, has a role in relationships with our allies in deepening those partnerships of trust. And if there’s one thing CQ Brown has demonstrated it’s that he’s a man that you can trust. And I think that will be very important as we deepen our alliances in the Pacific,” she said.

The threat is different from the one U.S. leaders have come to know in the Middle East, according to Wilson.

“I think that’s a challenge because for the last thirty years, we have really been focusing on terrorist threats all around the world and not necessarily crisis or conflict with a near-peer adversary. That’s different. Particularly, a technologically advanced near-peer adversary. So, he has to think about warfare in all of its domains. When we have not had to do that against ISIS and Al Qaeda,” she said.

Brown, in a video message spread widely in June 2020, reckoned publicly with the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, an injustice he felt compelled to discuss as a senior military leader who was often the first or the only Black man in his position. He said his son asked him how the Air Force would respond to Floyd’s killing, and he knew he needed to speak out.

“I’m thinking about how full I am with emotion not just for George Floyd, but the many African Americans that have suffered the same fate as George Floyd,” he said. “I’m thinking about a history of racial issues and my own experiences that didn’t always sing of liberty and equality.”

When Wilson saw the video, she said she “was really proud of him. He had a sense of what airmen needed to hear from him. And as a leader, he was in a unique position to stand up and say so. And – I think – I was really proud of him.”

Wilson pointed to the admission of women to service academies for the first time in 1976 as the sort of breakthrough Brown’s nomination represents.

“I think this country has benefited from that. We have a stronger national defense because you use the gifts that everyone brings to the table,” she said.

Joining ABC’s “GMA3” last February, Brown told ABC News, “You can only aspire to be what you can see. And hopefully by me being in this position, I’ll inspire many young people to open doors for not just in the military, but just really across the country, to be in a great position to — just like this.”

Brown’s “style is different,” Wilson said. “But that’s okay…Different secretaries of defense and different presidents need different things.”

“One of the things that CQ does well is listen, and this is in a town where there’s a lot more people who want to talk than listen and who listens and understands and synthesizes problems. He asks good questions and then is able to crystallize what the big issues are.”

ABC News’ Matthew Seyler contributed to this report.

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