Signs of Progress as Talks Continue on Fiscal Crisis
President Obama and Congressional Republicans prepared Friday to continue pushing toward a stopgap budget and debt deal that might reopen the federal government and lift the threat of a first-ever American default.
Speaker John A. Boehner departed the Capitol on Thursday for a meeting at the White House with President Obama about a solution to ending the government shutdown.
Though failing to reach agreement during a 90-minute meeting at the White House on Thursday, both sides described the gathering as constructive, and talks among top aides continued overnight.
As the government shutdown enters its 11th day, Mr. Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. are scheduled to meet with the entire Senate Republican caucus Friday morning in the State Dining Room at the White House.
A deal remains elusive after Speaker John A. Boehner on Thursday offered a six-week extension of the nation’s borrowing authority and Mr. Obama pressed for an end to the shutdown. The official House schedule on Friday calls for “possible consideration of legislation related to the debt limit,” but there was no evidence of an imminent agreement between the parties that could move to a vote in Congress quickly.