President Obama told congressional leaders at their latest debt-limit meeting that they must come to an agreement by early Saturday morning or else they will be called back to the White House this weekend, a Republican aide with knowledge of the meeting said Thursday evening.

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At a “composed and polite” meeting that lasted 80 minutes, congressional negotiators and the White House finished their review of the work done by the previous group led by Vice President Biden, said the aide, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the meeting. At the end, Obama told the bipartisan leaders that he expected them to agree on a path forward “over the next 24 to 36 hours, the aide said.

No White House meeting is set for Friday, according to several aides familiar with the talks. Instead, leaders are expected to go to their rank-and-file members to discuss the negotiations.

Thursday’s meeting ended at 5:43 p.m. Shortly afterwards, the White House announced that Obama would hold a news conference at 11 a.m. Friday.

Obama told lawmakers that he and his staff would be “on call” during the time leading up to the deadline, the aide said..

House Republicans have set a conference meeting at the Capitol for early Friday morning; it was not immediately clear whether House Democrats had similar plans.

The agenda on the Senate side was not clear, either; the chamber is not expected to hold any roll call votes Friday.

The Republican aide also said that Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner told participants that, in addition to raising the debt ceiling, Congress must also enact a long-term plan to deal with the country’s deficit and debt.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) “used that warning to reiterate his concern that nothing the administration is offering to this point will resolve our debt problem,” the aide said.
WP