Hopes of a compromise deal to halt the impeachment of President Clinton faded yesterday as the White House accused Republicans of wanting to drag matters out for electoral advantage.
As Republican and Democratic leaders met on Capitol Hill the White House press secretary, Mr Mike McCurry, made a surprise attack on the Speaker, Mr Newt Gingrich.
"The fact that this matter is now going to drag on and on endlessly has to be laid at the feet of Speaker Gingrich," he said.
The advocates of a compromise which would see President Clinton receive some sort of punishment by Congress in exchange for the dropping of the impeachment process were being "drowned out", Mr Curry said.
Mr Gingrich defended the position of the majority Republicans, saying: "For anybody to talk about doing anything before we finish the investigative process simply puts the cart before the horse."
While President Clinton was visibly gratified to receive full-hearted support from President Nelson Mandela of South Africa at a White House function in his honour, a former president, Mr Jimmy Carter, expressed his embarrassment at Mr Clinton's actions.
Mr Carter, who was addressing students at Emory University in Atlanta, said in his first public comment on President Clinton's problems that he was deeply embarrassed by his actions.
Mr Carter predicted that the President would be impeached by the House of Representatives, where there is a Republican majority, but that the Senate would not be able to convict Mr Clinton by the necessary two-thirds majority of its 100 members.
There was clear disappointment in the White House as the prospects of a compromise deal to save the President the embarrassment of the impeachment process all but disappeared in the face of Republican reluctance to let him off the hook at this stage.
A Democratic senator, Mr John Kerrey, had proposed that the President testify to the House Judiciary Committee, which is handling the impeachment process, as part of negotiations for a censure motion and perhaps a fine to replace impeachment.
It is now clear that the Republicans are in no mood to accept such a deal at this stage. They seem determined to vote, before rising on October 9th, for the formal opening of the impeachment investigation.
This would begin some time after the election, in which the Republicans hope to increase their majority in the House.
Congressional hearings could drag on well into next year before the House takes a vote on whether to impeach the President or not.
This prospect appals Democrats. Yesterday the House minority leader, Mr Dick Gephardt, appealed to Republicans to set a time limit on the impeachment investigation of about 30 days, which could be extended if necessary.
Otherwise the investigation into the sexual encounters between President Clinton and Ms Monica Lewinsky could drag on for two years.
The former senator Mr George Mitchell has told President Clinton that he is ready to try to help him informally in negotiations with Congress. Mr Mitchell told the New York Times he was unable to accept his invitation two weeks ago to join the White House staff as an experienced envoy to Congress.
Vice-President Al Gore has renewed his support for the President following the broadcast of his videotaped testimony on Monday. Mr Gore, who was travelling in Wisconsin, told reporters: "My overall impression was that it was much ado about not much new."
Mr Gore said that the testimony "was not particularly new in the light of the [Starr] report that had previously been released."