While President Barack Obama was due to meet with Congressional leaders at the White House on Monday, the meeting seems to have been indefinitely postponed amid signs of progress toward an agreement in the Senate.
Obama had been scheduled to meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
The meeting was originally scheduled for 3 pm ET on Monday, but the White House later released a statement saying the meeting was postponed to allow Senate leaders time to continue making important progress toward a solution.
While the meeting has thus far not been rescheduled, Reid and McConnell have both made some optimistic comments regarding their negotiations.
Appearing on the Senate floor last night, Reid said "tremendous progress" has been made but called for patience and suggested that today "will be a bright day."
McConnell added that he has had "very constructive exchanges" with Reid and expressed optimism that they will reach an agreement that will be acceptable to both sides.
Even if the Senate leaders manage to reach an agreement, however, it remains to be seen if the deal will be acceptable to Republicans in the House.
Before the White House meeting was postponed, the president made a stop at Martha's Table, a Washington food pantry that helps low income children and families.
"This afternoon I am going to once again urge them to open the government and urge them to make sure that the United States government is paying its bills," Obama told White House reporters.
He noted there had been "some progress on the Senate side, with Republicans recognizing it's not tenable, it's not smart, it's not good for the American people to let America default."
Over the weekend, Obama rejected a plan from House Republicans that would temporarily raise the debt ceiling but linked reopening the government to certain GOP policy conditions.
The GOP proposal would have raised the debt limit for just six weeks, which Obama argued would be kicking the can down the road.
The focus of the negotiations has subsequently shifted to the Senate, where lawmakers are said to be considering a proposal from Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, that would fund the government and raise the debt ceiling in exchange for changes to Obamacare.
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