Stunned Republicans React to Canceled Vote  —  Referring to his plan to preemptively send the Senate a House-passed bill, Speaker John Boehner told his conference this morning that he'd “rather throw a grenade than catch a grenade.”  But with his right-wing troops abandoning him again it was the speaker left holding the bomb.

House to vote first on Senate plan  —  The House will vote first on an emerging Senate proposal to open government and lift the debt ceiling, a move that would expedite bipartisan legislation developed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Ayotte urges Cruz to allow quick vote in Senate on debt deal  —  Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) on Wednesday urged her GOP colleague Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) to allow a Senate budget deal to hit the floor without delay.  —  Ayotte said delaying a Senate bill with procedural tactics would have little point.

House Republicans Show Themselves To Be Dangerously Incompetent, Again  —  House Republican leaders canceled plans to call a vote Tuesday evening on a Republican plan to raise the debt limit and reopen the government.  They couldn't round up enough Republican votes to pass it.

Senate Leaders ‘Very Close’ to Debt, Shutdown Deal … With less than a day remaining before the debt limit is reached, Congress will need to work feverishly today to pass compromise legislation that would extend the debt ceiling and end the government shutdown.

Markets expect a deal — they better get one  —  NEW YORK — Wall Street has so far mostly shrugged off the latest Washington political crisis, assuming an 11th hour deal will materialize to raise the debt limit and stave off a potentially ruinous default.  —  But if the final act …

Will they make it?  Senate rushing deal before debt ceiling deadline  —  Washington (CNN) — The country crashes into the debt ceiling at midnight, and there is no deal yet in Washington.  —  The deal-making resumes Wednesday, as the government slides into day 16 of the shutdown.