Senators are en route home from Washington for a planned weeklong recess as negotiators for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and President Joe Biden struggle to reach a deal to avert a debt default.

Most members began heading back to their home states when the Senate adjourned Thursday evening, hours after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) confirmed that the May recess would move forward despite the White House and House Republicans remaining at odds on the debt limit issue.

LIBERALS BLAME REPUBLICANS, NOT BIDEN, FOR THEIR PURSUIT OF DEBT CEILING 'PLAN B'

The debt ceiling, or the top amount the federal government can borrow, will either need to be raised or abolished sometime next month to avert a default. Economists have long warned that such a default would wreak havoc on the economy. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says the United States will be unable to pay its bills by June 1. The Senate recess ends May 30.

It is entirely possible that one or more senators could object to rushing a Biden-McCarthy deal through using unanimous consent, which bypasses procedural rules to expedite the process. The body will almost certainly need more than the few days after this recess is scheduled to conclude to pass the bill. Schumer said Thursday that while the recess would still go on as planned, members would remain on call and would receive 24 hours' notice to return if a deal was reached.

At the time, the majority leader noted that "negotiations are currently making progress," citing McCarthy's prediction that the "House will vote next week if an agreement is reached and the Senate would begin consideration after that." That timeline would not interfere with the May recess, though it would put the United States at risk of missing the deadline to avoid default.

Those talks hit a snag on Friday, however, when Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA), the lead negotiator for House Republicans, walked out of a meeting with White House counselor Steve Ricchetti, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young, and Legislative Affairs Director Louisa Terrell, who represents the Democratic side.

“Until people are willing to have reasonable conversations about how you can actually move forward and do the right thing, then we’re not going to sit here and talk to ourselves,” Graves told reporters as he left the meeting.

The negotiators will reconvene to continue discussions over the weekend, though they'll break for the rest of Friday.

Both Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have taken a back seat in negotiations. While staying on party lines — Schumer has stood behind Biden in his refusal to negotiate spending cuts that are tied to a debt limit increase, while McConnell has urged the president to do the opposite — both have acknowledged the White House and House Republicans are leading on this matter.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Despite the Senate being largely on the sidelines, members and senior staff wondered aloud in recent days if the debt limit talks could keep senators from going home after Thursday evening votes. Asked about that possibility on Tuesday, McCarthy told reporters that he was "pretty confident" the Senate would return "if we come to an agreement."

With the latest developments on negotiations, the timeline for members making an early return remains in flux.