Obama meets Democratic senators over fiscal deal

US President Barack Obama Saturday met Democratic senators in a bid to find a fiscal deal as the US government shutdown drags on into its 12th day and the negotiation between the White House and House Republicans stalled.

In a hastily arranged meeting, Obama, a Democrat, met with Senate Democrats in the White House to discuss a way out of the fiscal deadlock, the White House said Saturday, Xinhua reported.

Earlier, Senate Republicans blocked an effort by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, to extend the government's borrowing authority through the end of 2014 without other conditions attached, a so-called "clean debt limit" bill.

 

In a 53-45 vote, the upper chamber failed to win the 60 votes necessary to advance the bill to a floor debate.

The Senate bill aimed at increasing the federal debt by about $1 trillion. Republicans intended to tie fiscal reform conditions to any bill to increase the government's borrowing authority.