Nightly News   |  April 03, 2011

Budget battle nears breaking point

If Republicans and Democrats can't agree on a budget by Friday, the government must shut down. NBC's Mike Viqueira explains the battle lines.

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This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>>> back in this country a big budget fight is shaping this up week with congress and the white house face the prospect of a government shutdown by week's end. nbc's mike viqueira is following it all from the white house tonight.

>> reporter: choice facing leaders this week, fund the government by friday night or see part of it shut down.

>> i hope we can solve the problem because frankly, people are looking for a little bit of adult interaction and they are interested in solutions to our debt and to our deficits and not just games.

>> reporter: republicans want to slash $61 billion from a more than $1 trillion bill funding the government for the rest of this year. that's too deep for the president and democrats who have count weird a plan to cut $33 billion.

>> we have agreed on a number as to the cut. now we have to agree on the component parts of it and move forward.

>> reporter: but after gaining seats in congress on a promise to cut spending, republicans are under mounting pressure from conservatives to reject a compromise and get tough with the president.

>> and if liberals in the senate would rather play political games and shut down the government instead of making a small down payment on fiscal discipline and reform, i say shut it down.

>> reporter: as vice president biden leads closed-door talks, the top house republican denies democratic claims that the two sides are close.

>> there is no agreement. republicans continue to fight for the largest spending cuts possible to help end washington's job-crushing spending binge.

>> reporter: now with the jobless rate dropping and the economy picking up steam, the president says a shutdown risks damage to a still-fragile recovery.

>> if these budget negotiations break down, we could end up having to shut down the government just at a time went economy is starting to recover.

>> reporter: and lester, there is yet another big spending fight coming up for budgets for next year and beyond. on tuesday, republican will unveil their plan to slash the national debt , in part with what are sure to be controversial changes to medicare and medicaid. lester?

>> mike, thanks.