A breakthrough remained elusive late Friday in the political standoff over the crucial twin fiscal issues of the US budget and its borrowing limit, dpa reported.
The White House characterized meetings between President Barack Obama and Republicans as "constructive," said he still "has some concerns with it."
Referring to House Republicans, White House spokesman Jay Carney said there had been "an indication ... of a recognition that we need to remove default as a weapon in budget negotiations."
A sticking point in the recent talks has been the six-week extension of the debt limit ceiling proposed by House Republicans. Carney said that such a proposal would "put us right back where we are today in just six weeks, on the verge of Thanksgiving and the obviously important shopping season leading up to the holidays," said Carney. "And that would create ... enormous uncertainty for our economy."