Statement by the Press Secretary

The President has made clear that Congress has only two options: pay the bills they have racked up, or fail to do so and put our nation into default.  We are encouraged that there are signs that Congressional Republicans may back off their insistence on holding our economy hostage to extract drastic cuts in Medicare, education and programs middle class families depend on. Congress must pay its bills and pass a clean debt limit increase without further delay. And as he has said, the President remains committed to further reducing the deficit in a balanced way.