LEAD: US debt reduction efforts expected to come up short

Nov 21, 2011, 20:37 GMT

Washington - A US congressional committee that has been working for weeks to hammer out a deficit reduction deal looked set to wrap up its work without a deal on Monday.

The panel of six Democrats from President Barack Obama's party and six opposition Republicans has been in private negotiations for weeks ahead of a Wednesday deadline.

But because any agreement must then be presented to the House of Representatives' Budget Committee, lawmakers needed to have something in hand by Monday evening - a prospect that looked extremely unlikely.

Republican Senator Jon Kyl said in a television interview Monday morning that the committee, of which he is a member, was continuing to meet and would make an announcement by the end of the day.

'I wouldn't be optimistic; I don't want to create any false hope here,' he said. 'My point is that we're still talking. And I think that's what people expect us to do and we'll do that until late this afternoon. There'll be an announcement by the two co-chairs toward the end of the day as to what the result was either way.'

White House spokesman Jay Carney urged Congress to act, stressing that US President Barack Obama had put forth a plan and was not to blame for any failure to come to a deal.

'Instead of pointing fingers and playing the blame game, Congress should act, fulfill its responsibility,' Carney told reporters.

The deadlock in Congress, including on the super-committee, splits along ideological lines. Left-leaning Democrats are eager to raise taxes on high earners and corporations, while Republicans are insistent on reductions in domestic spending and changes to bring rapidly rising pension and health care programmes under control.