“Republicans have told us in the beginning they can’t pass a debt limit increase. They passed a budget deal just with Republican votes,” he said. “They need Democratic votes. It’s going to take Democrats and Republicans in both houses to do something.”
The House canceled its recess for the week of July 18, anticipating a deal will not be finalized before then, and Congressional staff members were working through the weekend as talks continue.
The White House meeting with House and Senate leaders Sunday night follows a Thursday session from which leaders emerged without an agreement. “There is no agreement in private or in public,” Boehner told reporters Friday, adding, “It’s not like there’s some imminent deal that’s about to happen.”
The negotiations have been punctuated by Friday’s jobs report, which revealed a 9.2 percent unemployment rate. Asked about the economic recovery during his NBC interview, Geithner said, “I think it’s going to take a long time still.
“This is a very tough economy,” he added. “And I think for a lot of people [it’s] going to feel very hard, harder than anything they’ve experienced in their lifetime now for some time to come.”
Responding to rumors that he will leave his post in September, the one-time president of the New York Federal Reserve would only say that he will continue serving in the administration “for the foreseeable future.”
“I got a lot on my plate, and I got a lot ahead of me,” Geithner said. “And I’m going to be doing this for the foreseeable future.”
Rep. Bill Cassidy has his blood drawn by Alesha Barbour during a free hepatitis screening in the Rayburn House Office Building hosted by the Congressional Viral Hepatitis Caucus to recognize "National Viral Hepatitis Testing Day."
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