Political wrangling continued Friday as GOP lawmakers and the Obama administration failed to agree on a deal floated Thursday by House Republicans that would raise the debt ceiling until Nov. 22, without reopening the government, in exchange for negotiations with President Barack Obama on spending cuts and tax reform.
News from published reports and on Twitter said that while no deal was struck, House Republicans characterized their hour-and-a-half meeting with Obama on Thursday as “a useful and productive conversation.”
“I’m glad we had the discussion,” said Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., according to The New York Times. “Now we have to put the words into action and get this resolved.”
Reports also said, however, that Obama won’t go along with any GOP deal that ties spending cuts with raising the debt ceiling and opening the government.
At press time on Friday afternoon, Obama had just finished a meeting with Senate Republicans at the White House, and a press briefing to be held by White House Press Secretary Jay Carney kept getting pushed back.
At 1:13 p.m., Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, tweeted: “Meeting at White House over. Very good discussion on shutdown Nothing obvious decided But hope I’m surprised there may be progress.”
In another tweet, Jamie Dupree of Cox Radio quoted Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, as saying, “Honestly, the bigger breakthrough was last night with the House Republicans.”