You're reading: Liberal democratic leader says won’t back US debt deal

WASHINGTON, July 31 (Reuters) - Representative Raul Grijalva, who heads a group of liberal Democrats in the House of Representatives, said on Sunday that he would not back an emerging debt-ceiling deal crafted by Republican and Democratic leaders.

"This deal trades peoples’ livelihoods for the votes of a few unappeasable right-wing radicals, and I will not support it," Grijalva said in a statement. Grijalva heads the 74-member Congressional Progressive Caucus.

U.S. Senate Majority LeaderHarry Reidsaid on Sunday that despite progress, "we still have a ways to go" to get a deal to raise the U.S. debt limit.

"A lot closer than yesterday but we still have a ways to go," Reid told reporters as he entered a closed-door meeting with fellow congressional Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill.