Obama
President Barack Obama waves to reporters as he steps off the Marine One helicopter and walks on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, Thu...
President Barack Obama waves to reporters as he steps off the Marine One helicopter and walks on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012, as he returns early from his Hawaii vacation for meetings on the fiscal cliff. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Obama
President Barack Obama walks down the the lower steps instead of the usual longer stairway from Air Force One upon his arrival at Andrews Air Force B...
President Barack Obama walks down the the lower steps instead of the usual longer stairway from Air Force One upon his arrival at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. The president cut short his holiday and returned to Washington as no deal appeared in sight to avoid the year-end "fiscal cliff" of higher taxes and deep spending cuts that could spin the still-fragile back into a recession. The treasury secretary warned that the government would hit its borrowing limit on Monday, the final day of the year. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Obama
President Barack Obama walks past a Marine honor guard as he steps off the Marine One helicopter and walks on the South Lawn at the White House in Wa...
President Barack Obama walks past a Marine honor guard as he steps off the Marine One helicopter and walks on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012, as he returned early from his Hawaii vacation for meetings on the fiscal cliff. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Obama
President Barack Obama walks down the the lower steps instead of the usual longer stairway from Air Force One upon his arrival at Andrews Air Force B...
President Barack Obama walks down the the lower steps instead of the usual longer stairway from Air Force One upon his arrival at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. The president cut short his holiday and returned to Washington as no deal appeared in sight to avoid the year-end "fiscal cliff" of higher taxes and deep spending cuts that could spin the still-fragile back into a recession. The treasury secretary warned that the government would hit its borrowing limit on Monday, the final day of the year. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Obama
President Barack Obama returns a Marine honor guard's salute as he steps off the Marine One helicopter and walks on the South Lawn at the White House...
President Barack Obama returns a Marine honor guard's salute as he steps off the Marine One helicopter and walks on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012, as he returned early from his Hawaii vacation for meetings on the fiscal cliff. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Congressional leaders have arrived at the White House for a meeting with President Barack Obama in a last-minute effort to avert a "fiscal cliff" of across-the-board tax increases and steep spending cuts.
Republican House of Speaker John Boehner, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi arrived at the White House separately for the afternoon session.
Obama was expected to present a proposal to extend current tax rates to all but the wealthiest Americans, extend aid for the jobless and other measures that need immediate congressional attention.
Vice President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also were attending. The session represented hope for a deal before Dec. 31, after which higher taxes and spending cuts would kick in.
