US government close to shutdown after talks stall

THE US federal government moved closer to a shutdown as House of Representative speaker John Boehner and president Barack Obama failed to reach a deal to keep the government running.

Talks will continue as the House’s plan for a stopgap measure was met with a veto threat by Obama.

After the second round of talks in less that 12 hours ended, Boehner, said: “All of us sincerely believe that we can get to an agreement.” Senate majority leader Harry Reid, also in the negotiations, said there would be another meeting with the president.

All sides are working on a last-minute deal to avert a partial government shutdown that looms at midnight today.

Boehner said he asked Obama to sign a stopgap measure the House had passed yesterday afternoon that would fund the government for one more week, make $12bn in cuts, and fully fund the Pentagon through September. He said he was disappointed the president intended to veto the bill if it got to his desk.

President Obama was unavailable for comment last night.