Government Shutdown, Deficit Reduction | featured news

The House is taking its first step Wednesday to avoid a government shutdown, as Washington looks to forgo forcing a fiscal crisis this month and instead turns its attention to a more deliberate debate over long-term deficit reduction.

A key Republican leader assured Sunday that a congressional supercommittee will reach agreement on $1.5 trillion in cuts in government spending by next month's deadline and avert deep automatic measures.

A last-minute deal reached by Democratic and Republican leaders in the Senate diminished the chances of a government shutdown by week's end.

Obama senior adviser David Plouffe accuses 30 Tea Party members in Congress of controlling the debate — whether over deficit reduction, taxes or more immediate items like funding for the government and disaster relief — both set to run out this week.'Fox News Sunday' Transcript: Plouffe Defends Obama's Deficit-Reduction PlanFull Coverage:

Financial institutions across the country have begun preparing for a worst-case scenario if Congress fails to raise the nation’s borrowing limit, assembling plans to offer customers emergency loans or waive fees if their federal pay or benefits checks do not arrive on time. Navy Federal Credit Union, the largest in the country, said this week it would advance pay to direct-deposit members who are active-duty military or civilian employees of the Defense Department. It also said it would expedite approvals for lines of credit, overdraft programs and higher credit card limits.

House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner broke off talks with President Barack Obama on Friday and said he will begin negotiations with Senate leaders aimed at meeting an August 2 deadline to avert an unprecedented U.S. debt default.

The government will lose about $200 million a week in airline ticket taxes if the Federal Aviation Administration is forced to shut down.