There are hopes that Democrat and Republican senators could reach an agreement later that will ease fears of a catastrophic default on America’s debt.
With just two days left before the Treasury Department says it will run out of borrowing capacity, congressional aides predicted that the leader of the Decmocrat majority, Harry Reid, and Republican leader Mitch McConnell would seal an agreement today.
Mr Reid said on Monday that he was “very optimistic we will reach an agreement this week that’s reasonable in nature”.
Mr McConnell said: “We have had an opportunity over the last couple of days to have some very constructive exchanges of views about how to move forward. Those discussions continue, and I share optimism that we’re going to get a result that will be acceptable to both sides.”
President Barack Obama telephoned Mr McConnell on Monday to talk about the emerging deal. Congressional leaders had been scheduled to meet the president at the White House on Monday, but the meeting was postponed to allow more time for negotiations.
A deal in the Senate would go halfway to ending the partial shutdown of the federal government and ease fears of a debt default, something economists say could trigger anotherg global recession.
The plan will fund the US government until 15 January and allow the Treasury to borrow money to pay US bills until February.
The shutdown, which has led to 350,000 federal workers going on unpaid leave, began on 1 October after congress failed to pass a bill temporarily funding the government.
If congress fails to approve a second bill increasing the amount of money the government is allowed to borrow, the Obama administration says it would be forced into the unprecedented position of failing to pay America’s bills on time, risking huge loss of confidence in the world’s largest economy.
Both measures are normally routine, but conservative Republicans have refused to pass the budget unless Mr Obama’s plans to reform the US healthcare system are delayed.
Even if senators reach an agreement, right-wingers in the Republican-controlled second chamber, the House of Representatives, could scupper a deal.
Senate Republicans are said to be eager to end the shutdown amid plummeting public support for their stance.
But Republican representative Joe Barton has signalled that conservative members of the House are unhappy with the proposed compromise, saying: “No deal is better than a bad deal.”
The plan under consideration by senators is far from the assault on the “Obamacare” reform law that conservative tea-party Republicans were hoping for.
It also lacks the deep budget cuts demanded by Republicans in exchange for increasing the government’s $16.7tr borrowing limit.