Debt ceiling: Still no plan to avoid a default, but major shifts in posture

After a week of meetings on the debt ceiling, Congress, the White House and the country still do not have a clear path forward to avoid a cataclysmic default with just four days when both the House and Senate are scheduled to be in session before June 1, when the US could default on its obligations. On one hand, it looks like this could go to the brink. On the other, there have been pockets of progress over the intervening days and signs that some of the most stringent and hardened positions negotiators have been echoing over the last three months are slowly beginning to soften.

After meeting Friday for a third straight day, House, Senate and White House negotiators still don’t have a deal but are expected to continue to talk over the weekend, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Two sources involved in the talks said there has been progress but there’s a long way to go. One source said it takes months to hammer out a fiscal deal, but they are trying to do that in just a matter of days.