Speaker John Boehner told a closed House Republican meeting Friday morning that the chamber needs to pass legislation to lift the nation’s debt ceiling by Wednesday, although he warned that no agreement has been reached with the White House yet. A day after breathless news reports that a deal was imminent, the Ohio Republican jokingly told his conference that he had reached a sweeping agreement with President Barack Obama to slash trillions of dollars in government spending.
“I’m just kidding,” Boehner then added, drawing a laugh from rank-and-file Republicans, according to those in the room.
But Boehner was not kidding about the serious deadline for raising the debt ceiling — there are just a dozen or so days until the Treasury Department says the nation will reach its $14.3 trilion debt ceiling.
Click for Full Text!
