The White House is seen on October 9, 2013 in Washington, DC. US President Barack Obama Wednesday announced plans to invite all Republican and Democratic lawmakers to the White House to talk about the bitter impasse which shut the government and could throw the United States into default. Obama will begin the process by meeting minority Democrats from the House of Representatives later on Wednesday, a White House official said. The meetings come as Washington lurches close to an October 17 deadline to raise the US government’s statutory borrowing limit. AFP PHOTO / Karen BLEIER