Attention shifted to Senate leaders to find a deal that averts a US default and restores full government operations, as the partial government shutdown entered its 13th day with a lapse in borrowing authority four days away.
Alongside the shutdown, the US is headed for a debt default if it does not raise its debt limit by the October 17 deadline.
There are "a lot of constructive discussions going on behind the scenes," Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, said on CNN's State of the Union on Monday.
The hurdles remain the same ones that have bedevilled Congress for a month. Democrats insist that policy changes shouldn't be attached to a debt-ceiling increase and stopgap spending bill. Republicans, internally fractured over strategy, say spending cuts and revisions to the 2010 health-care law must occur.
The Senate negotiations also include discussions of easing the spending caps imposed by the across-the-board cuts known as sequestration.
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, also on CNN, said he and many other Republicans consider spending increases a "non-starter".
In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Saturday held their first negotiating session since the shutdown began October 1.
Breakthrough
"It's a breakthrough - hard to imagine, but it's a breakthrough," Richard Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said on Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press programme. The Reid-McConnell conversation "I think has the promise of finding a solution," he said.
Senate Democrats on Saturday rejected the proposal from Collins after their leaders said its proposed debt-limit increase, to January, was too short to provide certainty, and the funding extension at Republican-preferred levels, until March, was too long.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, said the Collins plan was unacceptable because it would have locked in spending at the level of $967 billion under the federal sequester.
The Budget Control Act of 2011 established a spending cap for federal government spending in financial year 2014 of $967 billion, $21 billion less than the post-sequester financial year 2013 level. If Congress doesn't pass legislation to reduce spending or alter the cap before January, a second round of automatic discretionary spending cuts goes into effect to meet that goal.
Market reaction
Democratic lawmakers warned on Saturday that the lack of movement this weekend may have an effect on financial markets when they open on Monday. Talks between House Republicans and President Barack Obama were at an impasse.
The US situation is "very, very concerning," International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Meet the Press.
Even if there is progress, it would be procedurally difficult to get passage in the Senate and action by the House before October 17, when US borrowing authority lapses. The federal government would start missing payments sometime between October 22 and October 31, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Obama's appeal
On Saturday, President Barack Obama had appealed to Congress to pass the budget while pushing Republicans to agree to hike the borrowing limit to prevent an "economic shutdown". "Let's pass a budget, put people back to work, and end this Republican shutdown. Let's pay our bills, and prevent an economic shutdown," Obama said.
In his weekly address to the nation, Obama outlined details of his meetings with Republican lawmakers over the past few days to resolve the unprecedented crisis. "I know you're frustrated by what you see in your nation's capital right now. But because it's easy to get lost in or give up on the political back-and-forth, I want you to remember: this is not normal," he said.
"It wouldn't be wise, as some suggest, to just kick the debt ceiling can down the road for a couple of months, and flirt with a first-ever intentional default right in the middle of the holiday shopping season," Obama said.
"Our government is closed for the first time in 17 years. A political party is risking default for the first time since the 1700s. This is not normal. That's why we have to put a stop to it. Not only because it's dangerous, but because it saps everyone's faith in our extraordinary system of self-government. And that hurts us all," Obama said.
Obama blamed the Republican Party leadership for the current situation, saying "constant brinkmanship" does not let his government do a lot of things.
Alongside the shutdown, the US is headed for a debt default if it does not raise its debt limit by the October 17 deadline.
There are "a lot of constructive discussions going on behind the scenes," Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, said on CNN's State of the Union on Monday.
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"It's taken far too long, we never should be in this situation, but I do believe we are going to see a resolution this week," said Collins, who added she was optimistic that her plan, which was rejected by Senate Democrats on Saturday, will provide a framework for a successful outcome.
The hurdles remain the same ones that have bedevilled Congress for a month. Democrats insist that policy changes shouldn't be attached to a debt-ceiling increase and stopgap spending bill. Republicans, internally fractured over strategy, say spending cuts and revisions to the 2010 health-care law must occur.
The Senate negotiations also include discussions of easing the spending caps imposed by the across-the-board cuts known as sequestration.
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, also on CNN, said he and many other Republicans consider spending increases a "non-starter".
In the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Saturday held their first negotiating session since the shutdown began October 1.
Breakthrough
"It's a breakthrough - hard to imagine, but it's a breakthrough," Richard Durbin of Illinois, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said on Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press programme. The Reid-McConnell conversation "I think has the promise of finding a solution," he said.
Senate Democrats on Saturday rejected the proposal from Collins after their leaders said its proposed debt-limit increase, to January, was too short to provide certainty, and the funding extension at Republican-preferred levels, until March, was too long.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, said the Collins plan was unacceptable because it would have locked in spending at the level of $967 billion under the federal sequester.
The Budget Control Act of 2011 established a spending cap for federal government spending in financial year 2014 of $967 billion, $21 billion less than the post-sequester financial year 2013 level. If Congress doesn't pass legislation to reduce spending or alter the cap before January, a second round of automatic discretionary spending cuts goes into effect to meet that goal.
Market reaction
Democratic lawmakers warned on Saturday that the lack of movement this weekend may have an effect on financial markets when they open on Monday. Talks between House Republicans and President Barack Obama were at an impasse.
The US situation is "very, very concerning," International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Meet the Press.
Even if there is progress, it would be procedurally difficult to get passage in the Senate and action by the House before October 17, when US borrowing authority lapses. The federal government would start missing payments sometime between October 22 and October 31, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Obama's appeal
On Saturday, President Barack Obama had appealed to Congress to pass the budget while pushing Republicans to agree to hike the borrowing limit to prevent an "economic shutdown". "Let's pass a budget, put people back to work, and end this Republican shutdown. Let's pay our bills, and prevent an economic shutdown," Obama said.
In his weekly address to the nation, Obama outlined details of his meetings with Republican lawmakers over the past few days to resolve the unprecedented crisis. "I know you're frustrated by what you see in your nation's capital right now. But because it's easy to get lost in or give up on the political back-and-forth, I want you to remember: this is not normal," he said.
"It wouldn't be wise, as some suggest, to just kick the debt ceiling can down the road for a couple of months, and flirt with a first-ever intentional default right in the middle of the holiday shopping season," Obama said.
"Our government is closed for the first time in 17 years. A political party is risking default for the first time since the 1700s. This is not normal. That's why we have to put a stop to it. Not only because it's dangerous, but because it saps everyone's faith in our extraordinary system of self-government. And that hurts us all," Obama said.
Obama blamed the Republican Party leadership for the current situation, saying "constant brinkmanship" does not let his government do a lot of things.