Senate Democrats want to increase the nation’s borrowing authority for more than a year, taking Congress through the mid-term election.

Obama seemed to undercut them Tuesday afternoon when he said he could support a short-term legislation to fund government and raise the debt limit.

He also embraced attaching a mandated, bipartisan budget process to legislation that would increase the debt ceiling and open the government. That came hours after House Republicans offered legislation that would create a new debt panel, which was quickly panned by congressional Democrats.

At about the same time the president was holding his press conference, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced to colleagues his intention to move legislation to authorize more than a year’s worth of additional borrowing power.