US confident on shutdown deal
US Senate Democratic and Republican leaders said last night they were optimistic about ending a partial government shutdown and preventing the nation from breaching its debt ceiling.
US Senate Democratic and Republican leaders said last night they were optimistic about ending a partial government shutdown and preventing the nation from breaching the debt ceiling on Thursday.
President Barack Obama postponed an afternoon meeting with congressional leaders to “allow leaders in the Senate time to continue making important progress” toward a deal, according to a White House statement.
The emerging agreement would suspend the debt limit until February 15, fund the government until January 15 and require a House-Senate conference on budget matters by December 15, according to a Senate source familiar with the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“I’m very optimistic that we will reach an agreement that’s reasonable in nature this week,” Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said yesterday following talks with minority leader Mitch McConnell. McConnell said he shared Mr Reid’s optimism.
The movement towards a deal in the Sen- ate yesterday marked the strongest signals yet that Congress may be able to increase US borrowing authority before it lapses on Thursday and end the shutdown that started on October 1. Any proposal could face procedural delays in the Senate and an uncertain path in the Republican-controlled House, where Speaker John Boehner would have to decide whether to allow a vote or make changes.
If Congress does nothing, the federal government would start missing payments between October 22 and October 31, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
In the House, Republican leaders are weighing whether to bring up their plans for a short-term debt limit increase, said two aides who also spoke on condition of anonymity.
House Republicans will meet this morning to discuss the details of that proposal, which is expected to include policy conditions that Mr Obama says he cannot accept.
A Reid-McConnell deal would not be reached until late last night at the earliest, said a Senate Democratic aide. The leaders are debating the length of a stopgap spending bill and debt limit increase, the aide said.