US & Canada
House Speaker John Boehner is meeting all 240 House Republicans US Republican leaders are scrambling to rescue their deficit-cutting bill hours after a vote on it stalled because of a revolt from members of their own party.
Republican whips delayed a House of Representatives vote on the plan on Thursday night after failing to quell a rank-and-file conservative revolt.
House Republicans were meeting for closed-door crisis talks on Friday.
The fiscal fiasco leaves the US inching closer to a potentially catastrophic default on federal debt next Tuesday.
The White House has warned the government will run out of money to pay all its bills unless a $14.3tn (£8.7tn) borrowing limit is increased by 2 August.
President Barack Obama is due to give a White House statement to media about the status of the debt negotiations at 10:20 local time (14:20 GMT).
The US treasury department is meanwhile expected to unveil emergency plans explaining how the government would function if Congress does not agree to raise its borrowing limit.
Meanwhile, House Speaker John Boehner was convening a closed meeting of all 240 House Republicans on Friday morning to outline overnight tweaks he has made to the legislation.
Mr Boehner and other Republican leaders spent all day Thursday arm-twisting dissident lawmakers, but they were unable to win over enough conservative Republicans.
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End QuoteIt underscores the power, determination and strength of the Tea Party movement”
Some Republicans - including Tea Party supporters who won House seats last year and oppose raising the debt limit under any circumstance - feel the Boehner bill would not cut enough from the US budget.
Mr Boehner's plan, which would reduce spending by about $900bn and raise the debt limit by nearly the same amount, faces certain rejection by the Democratic-controlled Senate and a White House veto threat, but could form the basis of an eventual compromise.
President Obama supports another plan by top Senate Democrat Harry Reid, which would cut $2.2tn from deficits, and raise the debt ceiling by $2.7tn.
Analysts say that if Republicans cannot pass a bill, the Senate could pass legislation first, which would increase the president's leverage.
It is thought that Mr Obama and Senate Democrats could shape a bill to their liking and then dare House Republicans to reject it and plunge the nation into default.
Top Senate Democrat Harry Reid said late on Thursday that he may put his own deficit-cutting bill to a vote in the Senate.
The Boehner and Reid plans overlap in key ways, such as trimming spending over 10 years and shunning President Obama's call for tax increases on the wealthy and corporations.
But Mr Boehner's approach would force another debt-limit showdown during next year's presidential campaign, something Mr Obama has fiercely opposed.
Senate Majority Leader Reid's plan would see the ceiling lifted until after the November 2012 elections.
Analysts predict a last-minute scramble for a compromise and razor-edge votes in both chambers, with the high-stakes game of legislative brinkmanship expected to continue all weekend.
Washington hit its debt ceiling in May, but has used accounting adjustments, as well as higher-than-expected tax receipts, to continue operating.
In recent decades, the US Congress has increased the government's borrowing authority dozens of times as a matter of routine.
But this year newly elected conservative Republicans have demanded steep cuts to the budget deficit as the price of an increase.
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