A proposal pushed by U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) will give President Obama the power to raise the debt ceiling as long as he also proposes cuts worth more than the raise. The new power means Obama can request a raise of $2.5 trillion three times in the next year and thus prevent the country from defaulting on it's debt.

Meanwhile, Obama named Social Security as one possible cut, saying he could not guarantee there would be money for it on August 3. On Monday, Obama firmly declared a deal would be reached by the August 2 deadline.