Representative Patrick McHenry said Saturday that there are still “thorny issues” in the negotiations between House Republicans and the White House to avert a catastrophic US default.

“It’s hours or days, I don’t know when,” McHenry, one of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s top negotiators, said at the Capitol.

There is a “very short list” of differences that remain, he added.

Negotiators for McCarthy and President Joe Biden worked into the night to try to resolve a default, which Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says could happen June 5. McHenry said it’s a “severe challenge” to pass a bill before that X-date.

Work requirements for anti-poverty programs were among the remaining sticking points Friday night.