"The need to go forward in the Senate I can report to you as follows: There is bipartisan opposition in the Senate to raising the debt ceiling unless we do something significant about the debt. And in terms of what is significant - in my view, the definition of significant is what we do is viewed by credible by the market, by the American people and by foreign countries," he said.

 

"No blue smoke and mirrors, no gamesmanship," McConnell added. "A serious path forward - not only short-term but long-term - to reduce spending, is the only thing, in my judgment, that will get the votes in the Senate to raise the debt ceiling."

 

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor argued that the president had little in the way of a plan for reducing the debt - with the exception of raising taxes.

 

"The only concrete proposal in the president's plan that he'll roll out today is his plan to raise taxes," Cantor told reporters. "And I find that very unacceptable given we're several days out from tax day in this country."