Democrats demanding action on gun control continue to stage a sit-in on the floor of the US House of Representatives with one saying she would stay "until hell freezes over".

Hillary Clinton joked about her “long day”, the morning after her 11-hour grilling by House Republicans.

The Democratic frontrunner faces a showdown with Republicans in congressional probe, writes Bette Browne

If Republicans win the Senate, it would almost certainly spell the end of immigration reform plans — and dash the hopes of some 50,000 Irish living illegally in the US, writes Bette Browne

The US military has stepped up its campaign against Islamic State (IS) militants with five airstrikes across Iraq.

The United States has taken the first step in its expanded fight against Islamic State (IS) militants, going to the aid of Iraqi security forces near Baghdad who were being attacked by enemy fighters.

This week will offer the US Congress its best chance to obtain answers about president Barack Obama’s new counter-terror strategy in the Middle East.

In a high-stakes address to the nation, President Barack Obama outlined a broad expansion of the US military role in combating extremists in Iraq and Syria, including a call for arming Syrian opposition forces and potentially launching air strikes in both countries.

Senate leaders took command of efforts to avert a US Treasury default and end the partial government shutdown last night after a last big effort by Republicans abruptly collapsed.

US politicians in both houses of Congress have been trying to agree separate plans to reopen the government and avoid a federal financial default that could tip the global economy back into recession.

Congressional negotiations to end a US fiscal crisis gripping Washington and spooking financial markets hung by a thread last night after bipartisan talks broke down in the House of Representatives and shifted to Senate leaders.

Republicans and Democrats have hit an impasse in the US senate over spending in their last-ditch struggle to avoid a debt default in just four days and end a partial government shutdown that enters its third week.

US Senate leaders have taken the helm in the search for a deal to end the partial government shutdown and avert a federal default.

Republicans are offering to pass legislation to avert a debt default and end the partial government shutdown as part of a package that includes cuts in benefit programmes, officials in the House of Representatives say.

Republicans in the US House of Representatives unveiled a plan yesterday that would avert a looming default, in a sign that lawmakers may end a standoff that has rattled markets and thrown the country’s future creditworthiness into question.

The US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has urged Congress to raise the government’s borrowing limit before October 17, warning that a Republican idea to prioritise payments with cash on hand could cause “irrevocable damage” to the economy.

Barack Obama is hosting senior Republicans today to seek an opening in an impasse that has shut down much of the government and threatens a catastrophic federal default.

President Barack Obama turned up the political pressure on Republicans yesterday, saying he would be willing to negotiate on budget issues only after they agree to re-open the federal government and raise the debt limit with no conditions.

Congress needs to pass a debt ceiling increase by Oct 17 or the US will default, said Treasury Secretary Jacob J Lew.

Politicians on both sides of the US congressional stalemate have been summoned for talks with president Barack Obama as the partial government shutdown showed little sign of a breakthrough.

Much of the vast machinery of the US government has ground to a halt as Democrats and Republicans blamed each other for a partial shutdown that closed federal agencies, national parks and research facilities across the nation.

The US Congress has missed the deadline for averting the first partial government shutdown in 17 years.

The White House and Republican congressional leaders offered no meaningful proposals for rolling back automatic spending cuts that will slash €64bn from the national budget.

US President Barack Obama has signed into law a bill raising the government’s borrowing limit, averting a default and delaying the next clash over the nation’s debt until later this year.

Strong earnings from technology giants nudged the US stock market to a five-year high today.

House of Representatives Republican leaders have offered President Barack Obama a three-month reprieve to a looming, market-rattling debt crisis.

The White House and a divided US Congress avoided the “cliff” – and can now move on to the next fiscal crisis, with more explosive battles looming over taxes, spending and debt.

President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans yesterday looked ahead to the next round of even bigger budget fights after reaching a hard-fought fiscal cliff deal that narrowly averted potentially devastating tax hikes and spending cuts.

The task of picking up the pieces of the fiscal cliff talks — and reassuring global financial markets — is likely to fall largely to President Barack Obama after Republicans abandoned their own proposed fix championed by House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner.

Republicans in the House of Representatives confronted with a revolt among the party’s rank and file abruptly delayed a vote on legislation to avert a fast-approaching “fiscal cliff”.

Barack Obama and House of Representatives speaker John Boehner met at the White House amid talks to avert America’s impending “fiscal cliff” as a growing number of Republicans in Congress appeared to be veering towards accepting the president’s demand that the wealthy must pay more tax.

BARACK OBAMA was gripping the telephone so tightly it looked as if he were about to pulverise it in his hand.

The Republicans' newly-chosen vice presidential candidate wasted no time in attacking Barack Obama's economic stewardship in his first solo campaign event.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has picked Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan to be his running mate, according to a source.

US President Barack Obama has used the first official rally of his re-election bid to brand Republican rival Mitt Romney as a willing rubber-stamp for failed policies championed by extreme House Republicans.

Republican front-runner Mitt Romney and president Barack Obama are trading blows as though the former Massachusetts governor has already locked up his party's nomination.

The US Congress remained dangerously split today in the face of an unprecedented American default on its debt in just six days, as Republicans clashed with Democrats - and with each other - over raising the federal cap on borrowing.

President Barack Obama has described the fight over raising the limit on government borrowing and avoiding default on US debt as a “partisan three-ring circus” and blamed the crisis on the refusal of many Republican politicians to compromise.

Republicans in the House of Representatives will hold a largely symbolic vote today, demanding a balanced budget constitutional amendment as their price for raising the US debt ceiling and avoiding a catastrophic US default.

President Barack Obama has appealed for public support to push Congress to avert an unprecedented default on America’s national debt as politicians worked on dual tracks to reach an elusive deal.

The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives has adopted a dramatic 2012 budget plan that would cut the country’s debt by revamping the decades-old system that guarantees medical insurance for Americans over 65 and to the poor and disabled.

President Barack Obama’s new budget was unveiled today as a $3.73trn spending blueprint that pledges $1.1trn in deficit savings over the next decade through spending cuts and tax increases.

The Republican party is poised for head-to-head clashes with President Barack Obama as it takes charge of the US House of Representatives today, promising an era of smaller government and less spending.

Republicans today claimed their US elections victory gave them a mandate to throw out President Barack Obama's health care reform, calling it a "monstrosity".