President Joe Biden on Wednesday left the door open to expanding some work requirements as part of a debt ceiling deal, committing only to opposing new restrictions that affect health care programs.

“I’m not going to accept any work requirements that’s going to impact on medical health needs of people,” he said, before adding that “it’s possible” a deal could expand work rules for other federal programs.

Biden downplayed the significance of adding more work requirements, insisting that any new measures would not be “anything of consequence.” But his willingness to speak openly about support for modest measures signals that negotiations are narrowing in on specific policies and that the White House is comfortable with some concessions.

The White House has consistently opposed the prospect of new restrictions on Medicaid, and it warned it would fight against any ideas that pushed people into poverty. But Biden has been coy about expanding work requirements for other safety net programs like food aid and cash assistance.

His posture has raised alarms among Democratic lawmakers and progressives groups and it remains to be seen how they will react to his latest comments. Earlier on Wednesday morning, top House Democrat Hakeem Jeffries dismissed Republicans’ work requirement proposals as “entirely unreasonable.”

Biden’s remarks came ahead of his departure for the G-7 summit in Japan, where he’ll spend the rest of the week before coming back Sunday. The president in the meantime designated three top aides to continue debt ceiling negotiations, saying he would keep in constant contact with them throughout the trip and plans to hold a press conference upon his return.

“I’m confident that we’ll get the agreement on the budget and America will not default,” Biden said, later emphasizing that he still considers this a negotiation over the budget, and not the debt ceiling. “We’re going to come together because there’s no alternative.”

Office of Management and Budget director Shalanda Young, top Biden adviser Steve Ricchetti and Office of Legislative Affairs chief Louisa Terrell will take up the negotiations on behalf of the White House.

“We narrowed the group to meet and hammer out our differences,” Biden said, adding that the three have the authority to make agreements on his behalf.

Biden originally planned to travel to Papua New Guinea and Australia after the G-7, but cut the trip short so that he could resume in-person meetings on the debt ceiling. The Treasury Department has warned that the U.S. will be unable to pay its bills as soon as June 1 without an increase to the borrowing limit. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy previously suggested that the two sides needed to clinch a deal by the end of this week to ensure Congress could pass the legislation before the deadline.