WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A deal reached by the Senate on Tuesday to avoid the automatic tax hikes and spending cuts known as the “fiscal cliff” also includes measures to avert the “dairy cliff” – a steep increase in milk prices.

The tax agreement, which could face a vote by the House of Representatives as early as Tuesday, contains a nine-month fix for expiring farm subsidy programs by extending a 2008 farm law. That gives lawmakers time to come up with a new five-year replacement.

WASHINGTON, Jan 1 (Reuters) – A deal reached by the U.S.
Senate on Tuesday to avoid the automatic tax hikes and spending
cuts known as the “fiscal cliff” also includes measures to avert
the “dairy cliff” – a steep increase in milk prices.

The tax agreement, which could face a vote by the U.S. House
of Representatives as early as Tuesday, contains a nine-month
fix for expiring farm subsidy programs by extending a 2008 farm
law. That gives lawmakers time to come up with a new five-year
replacement.

WASHINGTON, Dec 31 (Reuters) – The United States looked on
track to tumble over the “fiscal cliff” at midnight on Monday,
at least for a day, as lawmakers remained reluctant to back
last-minute efforts by Senate leaders to avert severe tax
increases and spending cuts.

The U.S. House of Representatives might not vote on any
“fiscal cliff” plan before midnight (0500 GMT Tuesday), possibly
pushing a legislative decision into New Year’s Day, when
financial markets will be closed, said a Republican aide.

WASHINGTON, Dec 28 (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and
U.S. congressional leaders agreed on Friday to make a final
effort to prevent the United States from going over the “fiscal
cliff,” setting off intense bargaining over Americans’ tax rates
as a New Year’s Eve deadline looms.

With only days left to avoid steep tax hikes and spending
cuts that could cause a recession, two Senate veterans will try
to forge a deal that has eluded the White House and Congress for
months.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and congressional leaders agreed on Friday to make a final effort to prevent the United States from going over the “fiscal cliff,” setting off intense bargaining over Americans’ tax rates as a New Year deadline looms.

The focus now turns to the Senate, where Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader, and Mitch McConnell, who heads the Republican minority, will try to come up with a deal that can then be approved in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives before the end of the year.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama held out hope for a last-minute agreement to avoid the “fiscal cliff” of tax increases and spending cuts after a meeting with congressional leaders, scolding Congress for leaving the problem unresolved until the eleventh hour.

“The hour for immediate action is here,” he told reporters at the White House. “I’m modestly optimistic that an agreement can be achieved,” he said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama met congressional leaders on Friday but there was little sign of progress in resolving their differences over the U.S. federal budget and striking a “fiscal cliff” deal before January 1.

Obama was not planning to make a new offer, a source familiar with the meeting said as the hour-long talks got under way. None of the participants made statements to the media immediately after the summit at the White House ended.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The head of the agency responsible for the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile said on Friday that he will leave his post in January, six months after three elderly peace activists broke into the government’s maximum-security facility for weapons-grade uranium.

The departure of Thomas D’Agostino, the administrator at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), has nothing to do with the security breach, an NNSA official said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House on Friday tried to rescue stalled talks on a fiscal crisis after a Republican plan imploded in Congress, but there was little headway as lawmakers and President Barack Obama abandoned Washington for Christmas.

In remarks before flying to Hawaii for a break, Obama suggested reaching a short-term deal on taxes and extending unemployment insurance to avoid the worst effects of the “fiscal cliff” on ordinary Americans at the start of the New Year.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Friday paid tribute to U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye, a World War Two hero who represented Hawaii in Congress for more than 50 years, calling the senator who died on Monday “my earliest political inspiration.”

Inouye, who lost his right arm in battle and gained national attention during the Senate’s Watergate hearings, died at age 88. Obama, former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden spoke about Inouye’s legacy at a funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral.