Obama meeting with congressional leaders postponed

A meeting Monday between President Barack Obama and congressional leaders has been postponed to give Senate leaders more time to resolve differences over the country's debt limit and the federal government shutdown, the White said. Obama was scheduled to meet Monday afternoon at the White House with the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House of Representatives and Senate. A new day or time for the meeting was not announced. "The president's 3:00 p.m. meeting with the bipartisan leadership has been postponed to allow leaders in the Senate time to continue making important progress towards a solution that raises the debt limit and reopens the government," the White House said in a statement. The delay comes as both sides express optimism they are getting closer to an agreement to end the two-week government shutdown and avert a potential default on the U.S. debt. White House officials said the postponement should be considered a positive development.