Cooler heads prevail in latest debt meeting

President Obama directed congressional leaders to meet with their respective caucuses Friday to gauge what kind of budget deal is attainable, with more talks possible this weekend in the effort to raise the nation’s debt ceiling and avoid a potentially catastrophic default.

Thursday’s negotiating session was decidedly more even-tempered than the contentious gathering on Wednesday.

White House Budget Director Jack Lew, economic advisor Gene Sperling and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner walked through proposals for getting savings out of healthcare entitlement programs, tax expenditures and budget process changes.

After five straight days of talks, the parties agreed to take a break Friday. Obama plans to hold a morning news conference to update the American people on the progress.

According to a Democratic official familiar with the discussion, the president told the leaders that they had now walked through all the components of a potential big deal, in detail, and that it was now a good time for the leaders to go back to their caucuses, to consult with each other over the next 24-36 hours and figure out what can be done.

If he doesn’t hear back from them with a plan of action in that time frame, he may call another meeting for the weekend.

Repeating his desire for “the largest deal possible,” Obama again vowed to veto a short-term deal. He said he thinks a $2-trillion deal is possible if all sides will compromise a little.

Even as it continues to seek a “grand bargain,” the White House feels a more complicated maneuver to raise the debt limit being discussed by Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell remains a fallback option, though it was barely discussed Thursday.

There seemed a deliberate attempt by all sides to downplay the divisions. A Republican aide, calling the session “composed and polite,” said Speaker of the House John A. Boehner pressed the White House “to get serious about reducing spending in a meaningful way.”

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who clashed with Obama a day earlier, was silent, according to a Democratic aide.

As cordial as the meeting was, Obama was clear about the time frame, aides said.

“It’s decision time,” Obama said. “We need concrete plans to move this forward.”