THE US President Joe Biden denounced yesterday Saturday the attempt by “a small group of extreme Republicans” to cause fiscal paralysis, the much-discussed “shutdown”, next week.

Talking to you dinner at Congress, Biden said he agreed with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on the level of federal government spending. However, “a small group of extreme Republicans do not want to respect the agreement and everyone in the US is at risk of paying the price”, he underlined.

The US Congress is divided, with Democrats controlling the Senate and Republicans controlling the House of Representatives.

The deadline for a deal to avert fiscal paralysis expires at midnight on September 30. It is the second time in a few months that the world’s largest economy is facing a similar risk. It was only in June that the risk of declaring a default was averted after long negotiations between President Biden’s administration and the American right.