U.S. Government Shutdown Looms as Budget Talks Stall

Roughly 800,000 federal workers will be asked to stay home if a deal isn’t reached by midnight Friday.

No progress. Zero. Zilch. That was the ominous message U.S. President Barack Obama had Wednesday when he emerged from a late-night meeting with Republican House Speaker John Boehner and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. The government has yet to pass a budget for the coming fiscal year and Republicans are seeking to slash $61 billion from current spending levels, while Democrats say anything more that a $40-billion cut would damage the country’s economic recovery and social programs. If no budget is passed, 800,000 federal workers will go on temporary furlough, and cheques will stop going out to soldiers, including those in war zones. Democrats have accused the Tea Party of pressuring Republicans to seek unreasonable reductions to the size of government.