President Barack Obama clashed with Republican lawmakers yesterday in a White House meeting on deficit reduction that left doubts over securing a deal.
"Enough's enough," Mr Obama said, according to a Democratic official.
The meeting came as Moody's Investors Service served Washington with a stark warning that the United States may lose its top credit rating in the coming weeks if the $14.3 trillion (€10 trillion) limit on US borrowing was not raised.
Potentially souring efforts to raise the debt ceiling while putting off talks about spending cuts and tax increases, Moody's said it would likely assign a negative outlook to the nation's gold-plated credit rating if a credible agreement with long-term deficit reduction measures was not achieved.
That warning sent the US dollar tumbling against most major currencies. Stock futures and debt prices also fell.
Eric Cantor, the second-ranked Republican leader in the House of Representatives, said the talks yesterday became so acrimonious that Mr Obama walked out.
"He said he had sat here long enough. No other president, Ronald Reagan wouldn't sit here like this," Mr Cantor told reporters. Democratic officials called Mr Cantor's account overblown.
The two sides will meet again today. The White House and Congress must forge a deal to raise America's debt limit by August 2nd or the government will run out of money to pay its bills and default on some obligations. But they have so far failed due to a sharp divide over taxes.
The president and lawmakers met for nearly two hours yesterday to try and secure a deal. Republicans demand $2.4 trillion in spending cuts in return for supporting an increase in the debt limit. Democrats and Mr Obama insist on tax increases for the wealthy as part of a deal.
Mr Obama accused Republicans of partisan posturing that was keeping the two sides from agreement.
Reuters