A leading ratings agency put the the US on notice of a downgrade on Tuesday amid political turmoil in Washington over how to resolve the budget crisis less than a day before the country's borrowing requirement expires.
Fitch warned that the political battle "risks undermining confidence in the role of the US dollar as the pre-eminent global reserve currency, by casting doubt over the full faith and credit of the US.
But senior Republicans in the House of Representatives inched further to the brink on Tuesday night when they abandoned a planned vote, which would have extended the debt ceiling and reopened the federal government, when it became clear the they could not muster enough votes.
A day that ended in turmoil began with recriminations when the House initially rejected a fragile bipartisan deal that emerged from the Senate on Monday night.
The House speaker, John Boehner, then floated an alternative compromise that would have, in addition, delayed a new tax on medical devices designed to help pay for the Affordable Care Act and deprive lawmakers of any personal health insurance subsidies. That succeeded only in inflaming conservatives in his own party, who regarded the House and Senate compromises as surrender.
Source: theguardian
Source: theguardian
