Washington, April 08: The US government teeters on the brink of a shutdown as another round of talks between President Barack Obama and congressional leaders over social spending cuts has failed to produce results.
As the deadline for a possible shutdown of the US government on April 8 nears, another set of talks between Obama and Congressional politicians at the nation’s Capitol Hill has narrowed the decision down to Republican and Democratic legislators, a Media correspondent reported.
During the meeting, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada expressed pessimism about sidestepping a shutdown of the government before the weekend.
The looming government shutdown has forced the US president to sign two gap bills with 10 billion dollars in cuts in order to provide more time for negotiations.
“One is the amount of money they plan to cut over the next six months, and also these policy riders that have to do with things like planned parenthood, and other issues that really have nothing to do with the federal budget,” said Nicole Woo, a US economy analyst.
During previous talks, Obama met with Republican House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner and Harry Reid, trying to defuse a hugely significant showdown before a temporary government funding bill is set to expire Friday at midnight.
US nationals at home and abroad will be affected by the cuts and will only receive one week’s pay instead of two as of April. This includes US troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and the region around Libya.
If a solution is not reached, some 800,000 federal workers will lose their jobs by Monday, as thousands of businesses with federal contracts will be affected.
——–Agencies