"Reporting from Washington Battle lines over steep federal spending reductions hardened Sunday even as congressional leaders maintained that both Democrats and Republicans want to avoid a political impasse that could lead to a government shutdown within weeks.

"Lawmakers fanned out to their home states after the Republican-led House approved more than $60 billion in reductions for fiscal year 2011, the deepest spending cuts in generations. Virtually no domestic program would be spared.

"Democrats have rejected the legislation as too severe, warning that as many as 800,000 jobs could be lost by making such reductions in the remaining seven months of the fiscal year, harming the nation's fragile economic recovery. Instead, they propose a spending freeze, which Republicans reject."

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