Boehner: "The Idea Of Default Is Wrong And Shouldn't Get Anywhere Close To It"

Boehner: Idea of default is wrong

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Speaker Boehner says no final decision on House plan, warns against default
• Democrats slam House Republicans for hindering progress toward an agreement
• Under Senate deal being negotiated, the debt ceiling would be increased until February 7
• NEW: White House expresses support for Senate effort, urges quick action by Congress

Excerpt: "In a possible signal that he would proceed on a plan opposed by the GOP tea party conservative wing, Boehner declared that "the idea of default is wrong and we shouldn't get anywhere close to it."

Washington (CNN) -- Disarray among House Republicans surfaced Tuesday as the Senate closed in on an agreement to reopen the government and avoid a possible U.S. default as soon as this week.

House Speaker John Boehner was "struggling" to come up with enough votes to pass a GOP counter-proposal to the Senate plan, a House Republican leadership aide and other sources told CNN's Dana Bash and Deirdre Walsh.

After a two-hour meeting with his caucus that lasted twice as long as scheduled, Boehner told reporters there was no final decision on what the GOP-led House would do.

"There are a lot of opinions about what direction to go. There have been no decisions about what exactly we will do," he said.

In a possible signal that he would proceed on a plan opposed by the GOP tea party conservative wing, Boehner declared that "the idea of default is wrong and we shouldn't get anywhere close to it."