White House, Federal Deficit | featured news

President Barack Obama continues to oppose extending Bush-era tax cuts for wealthier Americans, the White House said on Wednesday, shrugging off calls from some Democrats for a temporary extension to make more time for a deal on deficits.

The White House signaled on Wednesday it could support a short-term increase in the U.S. borrowing limit for "a few days" if lawmakers agreed to a broad deficit reduction deal but needed more time to pass it.

In advance of Thursday’s White House meeting to resolve the stalemate in the debt talks, we've learned that Obama and Speaker Boehner share a goal to prove they can get a 'big' deal done.

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will meet Monday with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to discuss "the status of the negotiations to find common ground on a balanced approach to deficit reduction," according to the White House.

An unusual round of golf won't solve the Republican-Democratic budget battles, but it could lead to better relations between the White House and Congress. The president prefers a laid-back round on a Sunday morning.

Ratings agency Moody's warned on Thursday it would consider cutting the United States' coveted top-notch credit rating if the White House and Congress do not make progress by mid-July in talks to raise the debt limit.

Republican lawmakers are stepping up pressure on the Obama administration to craft a Plan B just in case budget talks fall through and the debt ceiling remains frozen past the Aug. 2 deadline Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has set.

President Barack Obama will announce a two-year pay freeze for federal employees Monday, a move White House officials say is the first of many difficult decisions that must be made to reduce the nation's mounting deficit.

The new estimates paint a grim unemployment picture as the economy experiences a relatively jobless recovery.

The White House has told domestic agencies to assume their budgets will be frozen or even cut by 5 percent as it signals a big push to take on the deficit next year.