McConnell: 'Our Country Is Not Going to Default'

The debt deal may rest on the shoulders of Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid, but the two can't seem to agree on how optimistic to be. At a mid-afternoon press conference, McConnell sounded like a deal was in the offing. “Our country is not going to default for the first time in history; that is not going to happen,” the GOP Senate minority leader said, according to the Washington Post. McConnell added that he had personally spoken to both Obama and Joe Biden. “We now have a level of seriousness, with the right people at the table, that we needed.” John Boehner echoed the sentiment, notes Politico.

But a few hours later, Reid threw cold water on the optimism, reports the New York Times. “The speaker and Republican leader should know that merely saying you have an agreement in front of television cameras doesn’t make it so,” he said. Reid apparently still planned to push ahead with a 1am vote on his plan, though he still didn't have the necessary 60 votes. (More Mitch McConnell stories.)