Senators hopeful fiscal deal could pass on Wednesday

WASHINGTON | Tue Oct 15, 2013 3:26pm BST
(Reuters) - Senators expressed hope that a bipartisan deal could emerge on Tuesday to end Washington's fiscal crisis even as Republicans in the House of Representatives said they were working on a separate plan.

Even if Democrats and Republicans agree, it could be Wednesday before the U.S. Senate signs off on a plan, senators said, close to a Thursday deadline when the Obama administration says it will reach its borrowing limit and risk default.

White House calls House Republican fiscal proposal an attempt to appease Tea Party

WASHINGTON | Tue Oct 15, 2013 4:18pm BST
(Reuters) - The White House dismissed the latest fiscal proposal offered by Republicans who control the House of Representatives on Tuesday, calling it a partisan attempt to appease a small group of Tea Party conservatives.

With time running out toward a Thursday deadline to avert a historic U.S. debt default, House Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Washington, proposed an alternative to a Senate plan that would affect Obama's signature healthcare law.

White House spokesman Amy Brundage said Obama has vowed repeatedly that lawmakers "don't get to demand ransom for fulfilling their basic responsibilities to pass a budget and pay the nation's bills."

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