US President Barack Obama was meeting with top lawmakers from both political parties Friday in an effort to hammer out a last-minute deal to avert the fiscal cliff due to take effect
next week.
House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell from the Republican side and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, both Democrats, are
participating in the talks. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Vice President Joe Biden were also present.
No media were allowed in the meeting and it was unclear whether the parties would give a readout of the talks.