re: #23 Eclectic Cyborg

If the House and Senate are stalemated, is there anything that can be done separate of those two bodies to avoid a shutdown and/or default?

At this point, shutdown is inevitable.

Default, on the other hand? If the GOP persists in being obstructionist assholes, the President can invoke the 14th Amendment and let the courts settle it. Section 4 of that amendment outright says that the public debts of the United States shall not be questioned.

It would almost certainly set up an impeachment in the House, but POTUS could argue that between being impeached and the US living up to its obligations and preventing a worldwide financial collapse because of Republican obstructionism, the impeachment is the lesser evil.