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Congressional Republican leadership and the White House moved closer to resolving their differences on the budget last Friday. The main stumbling block now is the length and terms of a short term deal set to increase the US debt limit and thus lift the government shutdown.

President Barack Obama had met with Senate Republicans at the White House. He also spoke over the phone with the House of Representative Speaker John Boehner. These are clear signs that negotiations have ramped up on how to get the federal government back in full operations and extend the debt ceiling past the October 17 limit.

The progress though is hard to gauge as all the parties refused to divulge the specific details on the discussion. Both sides of the aisle spoke with new optimism about the fiscal crisis. Lawmakers were expected to be working over the weekend with a goal to wrap up a deal by early next week.

White House spokesman Jay Carney, who told reporters after the call between the House Speaker and the US President, "The two of them agreed that all siddes need to keep talking. It at least looks like there is a possibility of making some progress here."