After President Barack Obama rejected a six-week extension of the debt ceiling and failed to consider lifting the US government shutdown, the Democratic and Republican Senate majority and minority leaders, Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell respectively, met Saturday morning to discuss raising the country’s borrowing limit and reopening the US government.

The treasury is scheduled to run out of money in just four days, with the risk of a possible US default which most economists agree would be catastrophic. Some Republicans are beginning to question their own public image, despite their attempts to focus on the unpopularity of Obamacare and depicting the President as a reluctant negotiator.

With Thursday being the day the $16.7tn debt limit must be raised and little signs of cooperation and agreement between the two parties, the shutdown now enters its 13th day and it is not certain when it will end.