House Republican leaders delayed a final vote on Speaker John Boehner’s deficit-reduction bill Thursday evening as Democrats warned the speaker that he was wasting his time.

Republican leaders said there will still be a vote on the controversial plan Thursday night but they needed more time to round up enough support.

Boehner, vowing to deliver the bill to the Senate, worked to corral the support of reluctant conservatives. The House first approved what’s known as the “rule” for the bill in a 238-186 vote, in a boost of confidence for the speaker. 

“Let’s pass this bill and end this crisis,” Boehner said at a press conference with other party heads.

But with the vote expected to be very close, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats worked to psych out the GOP leadership, claiming the Boehner bill was doomed to failure and that he was risking economic calamity just to score political points.

Lawmakers spoke in epic terms as they set the scene for debate Thursday, with the nation’s borrowing power, the economy and everybody’s interest rates in the balance.

Pelosi said Democrats were trying to “save the world from the Republican budget” and “save life on this planet as we know it.” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid insisted the Boehner bill would die in the Senate.

However, the Senate is expected to act on the Boehner bill should it pass. Democratic aides told Fox News that Boehner’s bill is actually the best vehicle for getting a debt-cap bill to the president’s desk provided changes are made to it on the Senate side — Reid could prime the bill for those changes Thursday night.

Even if something along the lines of Boehner’s bill passes, that doesn’t necessarily end the current crisis. Congress might lift the debt ceiling — something the administration says must happen by Aug. 2 to avoid the possibility of default — but the U.S. could still be at risk of losing its AAA credit rating if Congress does not do enough to address the deficit. A Standard & Poor’s official suggested as much Thursday, saying a $4 trillion deficit-reduction package — which is not on the table at present — would be a “good down payment.”

But Republicans showed increasing confidence with their proposal in its current form.

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