Democrats, often ridiculed for their intraparty policy disagreements and political fights, are trying to peg Republicans as being in disarray over the budget as the White House seeks to gain as much negotiating leverage as possible amid President Joe Biden's debt ceiling standoff with the GOP.

But while undermining Republicans may be politically advantageous for Democrats, it risks jeopardizing talks and a default if the White House and the GOP do not extend the country's $31.4 trillion borrowing authority before the summer.

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House Republican Study Committee Chairman Kevin Hern (R-OK) is pushing back on the White House's GOP in disarray criticism.

“The White House doesn’t tell Congress what to do," Hern told the Washington Examiner. "I don’t answer to Joe Biden."

The 156-member Republican Study Committee, like the more conservative 45-member House Freedom Caucus, has made initial debt ceiling negotiation demands before it releases its budget this month. The Main Street Caucus, Republican Governance Group, and Problem Solvers Caucus are also involved in the GOP's internal budget talks after Biden shared his last month.

But Republican disarray was underscored last week with a disputed New York Times report that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has privately complained about House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) and House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington's (R-TX) leadership on the debt ceiling and budget so far. McCarthy reportedly specifically took issue with Arrington's budget time frame.

"The RSC has made our priorities clear: We released an entire debt limit playbook," Hern said. "The president needs to start acting like a leader, put aside his petty partisanship, and work with us.”

A House Republican staffer repeated Hern's concerns, contending Biden appears opposed to "sensible spending reforms" as he refuses to negotiate over the debt ceiling. Instead, Biden would prefer for the GOP to address the debt limit without conditions, as it did three times for former President Donald Trump, though Biden says he welcomes separate talks on fiscal policy.

"He looks weaker every day this drags on," the aide said of Biden.

Middlebury College politics professor Bertram Johnson would not be surprised if the White House is "chuckling" over Republican disarray related to the debt ceiling and budget.

"But the real time for the administration to pounce will be if and when such a proposal is actually released," he said. "It cannot help but contain unpopular cuts, which will reinforce Biden’s argument about Republican attacks on popular programs."

For Northeastern University's political science chairman, Costas Panagopoulos, the White House's Republicans in disarray critique could be a "fruitful approach" before negotiations begin in earnest. That is anticipated to occur closer to the summer when the Treasury Department will no longer be able to rely on accounting tricks and other mechanisms to repay the country's loans.

"Still, it's a delicate balancing act because such strategies are risky and could easily backfire by calcifying GOP reluctance to come to terms," Panagopoulos said.

White House spokesman Andrew Bates called out House Republicans on Monday for leaving Washington, D.C., for a two-week Easter-Passover recess without releasing a budget, emphasizing "the ultra-MAGA" Freedom Caucus's influence on the process.

"Once they get their act together and remove the prospect of a default and submit a budget, we can have a full conversation about spending priorities," he said last week. "But it’s impossible to have the necessary conversation until Republicans get to work, finish negotiating with themselves, and are transparent with the American people about the unaffordable tax welfare for the wealthy and the gut punches to our competitiveness that they stand for."

The Democratic National Committee similarly mocked House Republicans for not "even [making] it 100 days into the new Congress" before reports of "how their majority is flailing amid internal drama and divisions" and McCarthy’s "weak grip on his caucus continues to unravel."

"It’s only been a few months since Kevin McCarthy made history by completely embarrassing himself in the House speaker vote, but already the cracks in House Republicans’ majority are showing," the DNC wrote in an email Monday. "Even Republicans are complaining about their party’s petty infighting and focus on weak, politically motivated attacks — and lack of focus on delivering for the American people."

McCarthy, who earned bipartisan praise for meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen while she was in the United States last week, has notched unexpected wins since being elected speaker, from ending the COVID-19 national emergency early to forcing difficult votes on Washington, D.C.'s crime bills. But he has also struggled to wrangle his conference on some of their priorities, including immigration.

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One House Democratic aide told the Washington Examiner a recent Judiciary Committee hearing to mark up a series of immigration measures "got pulled because of pushback from within their party."

"We were surprised," the source said. "We received notice the day before that they canceled the hearing, the markup. ... They've been meaning to do this for months. It was supposed to be one of their initial legislative H.R. one through 10 bills. I think it's still going to be, but it's just later."