Politics

Shutdown Will Enter Fourth Day

President continues attack on Republicans

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The federal government shutdown will enter its fourth day on Friday after Congress moved no further toward resolving its fiscal showdown and President Barack Obama ratcheted up pressure on Republicans.

A flurry of legislative activity at the beginning of this week tempered by the end of Thursday, slowed further by an incident on Capitol Hill in which a woman attempted to breach security there and at the White House. The dramatic encounter forced a temporary lockdown of the Capitol complex, and halted House and Senate proceedings for about an hour.

But Congress showed no indications of progress toward resolving their differences over funding the government before the security interruption. The continued impasse, though, prompted Obama to sharpen his rhetoric toward Republicans in Congress, singling out House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, as the lone obstacle to re-opening the government.