Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner says he is abandoning efforts to reach a larger, comprehensive debt reduction deal with the White House.

Boehner said in a statement Saturday he had reached the conclusion because the “White House will not pursue a bigger debt reduction agreement without tax hikes.”

Both parties had sought to reach a deal to reduce the federal deficit by $4 trillion over the next 10 years. Boehner said he told President Barack Obama that instead, he now wants to pursue a smaller $2 trillion deficit reduction deal.

Late Saturday, a White House statement said that to back off now would fail to solve the fiscal challenge before them and confirm the cynicism people have about politics in Washington.

The statement said President Obama will make the case to congressional leaders during a White House meeting Sunday that they all must reject the politics of least resistance and take on this critical challenge.

Republicans have been adamant that they will not support higher taxes. Instead, Boehner said negotiators should focus on deficit reductions identified by a bipartisan group led by Vice President Joe Biden.