House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) praised Democratic lawmakers for bringing the country "back from the brink of default" and said now is the time to shift attention to jobs.
"We just completed a very lively leadership meeting of the House Democrats, where we talked about ... the necessity of Democrats to save the day yesterday, pulling our country back from the brink of default," Pelosi said during a Tuesday press conference.
"It was a bitter pill for us to swallow, but we did," Pelosi said of the final debt deal. "And as we did, we saved Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security."
With that bridge crossed, the next step is refocusing Congress on job creation, she said.
"Jobs, jobs, job, jobs, jobs. You cannot say it enough," Pelosi said. "I really liked what Willie Nelson said, or at least he was quoted as saying -- the American people are more concerned about a ceiling over their head than raising the debt ceiling. We know we need to do both."
The Minority Leader ducked questions about when she would announce her picks for the newly created "Super Congress," a 12-member panel of lawmakers who will decide where to make up to $1.5 trillion in spending cuts. Pelosi also wouldn't say if she will require her picks to insist on new revenues in addition to cuts. The goal, she said, is to strike a balance in cuts and spending while preserving entitlement benefits.
"Whoever is at that table will be someone who will fight to protect those benefits," she said.
