Pelosi: Boehner 'chose to go to the dark side'

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) accused Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) of choosing "the dark side" in making his debt-ceiling bill more amenable to House conservatives in securing passage. 

Pelosi also argued the Speaker had set the U.S. on a path towards default during her floor speech in favor of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's debt ceiling plan on Saturday.

“The Speaker chose, when he didn’t have the votes, instead of to reach out in a bipartisan way to see how we could work together, he chose to go to the dark side," Pelosi said to disapproval from Republicans in the chamber. 

"Let me repeat. And I repeat, he chose to go to the dark side by putting forth a bill that he himself told his Members [it] would sink in the Senate — and I add, lead to default, lead to default. We cannot default. We are the greatest country that ever existed in the history of the world."

Pelosi called on her fellow House members to end the "theater of the absurd" and face the practical reality of the situation, which is that the U.S. will default if a compromise isn't reached this weekend. 

Shortly after the House rejected Reid's measure, Pelosi and Reid traveled to the White House for a meeting with President Obama to update him on the situation.

Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) at a press conference after the vote said they had spoken with Obama and were confident a deal would be reached.

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