With a possible default on government obligations days away, talks between the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate on Sunday failed to break an impasse over the spending level for a stopgap measure to reopen the government two weeks after much of its shutdown, according to New York Times.
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, and Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, spoke cordially on telephone but remained deadlocked. The stumbling block is over spending levels, the length of a debt ceiling increase and how long a temporary spending measure should keep the government open until a longer-term budget deal can be reached.
Republicans reacted with frustration over what they saw as the shifting demands of a Democratic leadership intent on inflicting maximum damage on adversaries sinking in the polls and increasingly isolated.
"The Democrats keep moving the goal posts," Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine and a lead negotiator, said Sunday. "Decisions within the Democratic conference are constantly changing."
But Democratic aides said a deal taking shape among a bipartisan group of senators offered Democrats nothing beyond a reopening of the government and temporary assurances that the government will not default in the coming days. Those should be seen not as concessions but as basic obligations of Congress, they say.
AFP adds: All eyes turned to the US Senate Sunday to work out a deal to remove the threat of a historic default with just days before the United States reaches its borrowing limit. The Senate convened for a rare Sunday session, grappling with an impasse that has shut the US government for nearly two weeks, sending tremors of concern around the world.
With the United States projected to hit the limit of its borrowing authority on October 17, political leaders on both sides were manoeuvring with increasing urgency to find a way out of the crisis, but with little to show so far.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would be meeting later in the day with his Republican counterpart, Mitch McConnell, on the impasse, their second talks in as many days. "Americans want Congress to compromise. Americans want Congress to give the economy certainty and security, not more indecision and doubt," he said.
Other senators expressed cautious optimism that an agreement could be reached soon, but differences remain.
"This is something that's wreaking havoc around the world and will affect economic growth, and I do hope that over the next week we'll reach a conclusion and I think we will," Republican Senator Bob Corker said on Fox News Sunday.
Still he added: "Over the last 24 hours, there's not been good productivity on this issue."
The action has shifted to the Senate since President Barack Obama on Saturday rejected an offer by House Republicans to lift the debt ceiling for six weeks while negotiations continued, insisting on a longer term solution.