US Congress reverts to bitter brinkmanship

WITH the US Congress haggling over some of the heftiest spending bills in the nation's history, the federal government is facing a shutdown at the end of this week, and could even default on bond payments in October.

Political analysts say it is unlikely that both the US$1 trillion infrastructure bill and the US$3.5 trillion budget can pass this week, meaning that some kind of stop-gap legislation is needed to keep the lights on in government buildings beyond midnight on Thursday.

About 60 per cent of the more than two-million-strong federal workforce could be furloughed if nothing is passed by Oct 1.