Reid said he would make 'tweaks' to his plan to gain GOP support in the Senate. | REUTERS Harry Reid makes his move

Stepping up pressure on divided Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced Friday he’d immediately move to his bill to raise the national debt limit as President Barack Obama called for a bipartisan deal to avert an economy-shaking default next week.

Calling his plan “the last train out of the station,” Reid said there are only hours to act before Tuesday’s Treasury deadline, so he plans to file a procedural motion Friday to move toward a final vote in the next few days.


“That is why, by the end of the day today, I must take action on the Senate’s compromise legislation,” he said.

After Thursday night’s revolt that stalled Speaker John Boehner’s plan, Reid is trying to force the House into accepting a Senate alternative — provided he can win GOP support in his body. By going through the procedural hoops in the Senate, the body would act on a final plan just hours before Tuesday’s deadline to raise the debt ceiling when the White House says the government will begin to run out of money.

“What’s clear now is that any solution to avoid default must be bipartisan,” Obama said at the White House Friday, saying the two parties “aren’t miles apart” and in “rough agreement” on a plan with some modifications.

But Republicans are opposed to Reid’s plan, saying that it would give Obama too long of a debt ceiling increase by extending it through 2012. And they criticize its proposed savings of $1 trillion from winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, calling it a gimmick.

But Reid said he was open to “tweaks” to his plan to win GOP support, which he would need to get 60 votes and break a possible filibuster attempt — and he invited Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to cut a deal that could win bipartisan support.

On the floor Friday morning, McConnell shot back at Senate Democrats, saying they should embrace the Boehner plan rather than engaging in “chest-thumping” exercises aimed at blocking it.

“Rather than working the last few days towards a solution to this crisis the way the Republican majority in the House has, the Democratic majority here in the Senate has been wasting precious time rounding up no votes to keep this crisis alive,” McConnell said.

Reid’s plan would extend the national debt ceiling through 2012 elections by about $2.7 trillion, and would cut about $2.2 trillion mainly to discretionary spending programs over the next decade. To implement deeper cuts, Reid proposes setting up a new 12-member panel of lawmakers to propose a sweeping array of changes to the tax code and entitlement programs.

Boehner’s proposal would set up a two-stage process, first raising the debt ceiling by about $900 billion and cutting spending by a similar amount. And if the new 12-member committee cannot reach a deal, the second increase in the debt ceiling would not be granted to President Barack Obama.

Democrats have refused to consider a short-term increase, fearing that Congress would replay the messy budget crisis in the middle of a presidential election year.

On the floor, Reid said he was open to further changes of his plan.

“I have no pride of authorship,” Reid said on the floor. “If somebody can figure out another way to improve that suggestion I have, I will work with them.”

Speaking in personal terms, Reid said he’s spent his “entire adult life” finding consensus, even at times feeling like a “failure” in his previous career as an attorney.

Referring to his plan, Reid said “this is likely our last chance to save this nation from default.”