Collision course: CR and debt ceiling  —  A harsh reality began setting into Capitol Hill on Tuesday: The U.S. government may not reopen until the two parties reach a deal to raise the national debt ceiling.  —  Hours after federal agencies shuttered their doors for the first time in nearly two decades …

Why Boehner doesn't just ditch the hard right  —  Robert Costa is the National Review's Washington editor and one of the best-sourced reporters among House Republicans.  Like many others, I've relied on his reporting in recent days about how House Republicans are strategizing around the government shutdown.

Obama Reaches Out to Congressional Leaders  —  Lawmakers From Both Parties Invited for Talks on Budget, Debt Limit … WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama invited congressional leaders from both parties to the White House on Wednesday to discuss the partial government shutdown and looming debt-limit crisis, a White House official said.

Dems: Prolonged shutdown will give us leverage on debt limit  —  Senate Democrats believe the longer the government remains shut down, the more leverage they will wield in the debt-limit debate later this month.  —  There is growing sentiment among Democrats that the short-term funding resolution …

Staunch Group of Republicans Outflanks House Leaders  —  WASHINGTON — They have had their fleeting moments on cable television.  Their closed-door run-ins with Speaker John A. Boehner spill occasionally into the pages of Capitol Hill newspapers.  But outside their districts …

Where leadership is needed, Obama stays on the sidelines—except when he's attacking Republicans.  —  President Obama is sitting out one of the most important policy struggles since he entered the White House.  With the government shutdown, it has reached the crisis stage.