No deal in spending showdown

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

Time growing short, President Barack Obama and congressional leaders failed to reach agreement Thursday night on a compromise to cut spending and head off a government shutdown tonight at midnight that no one claimed to want.

Obama, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid all said the differences had been narrowed in a pair of White House meetings during the day. They directed their aides to work through the night in pursuit of a deal.

“I expect an answer in the morning,” Obama said in an appearance in the White House briefing room shortly after his second sit-down of the day with the lawmakers.

The comments capped a day in which the president, Reid, D-Nev., and Boehner, R-Ohio, bargained and blustered by turns, struggling to settle their differences over spending cuts and other issues while maneuvering to avoid any political blame if they failed.

With the economy is just now beginning to create jobs in large numbers, the president said a shutdown would damage the recovery. “For us to go backwards because Washington couldn’t get its act together is just unacceptable,” he said. The White House announced he had postponed a scheduled trip to Indianapolis this morning.

But agreement remained elusive, and Republicans passed legislation through the House at midday to fund the Pentagon for six months, cut $12 billion in domestic spending and keep the federal bureaucracy humming for an additional week.