Republicans and Democrats appear close to a final agreement tonight for a $700 billion bailout to save the financial system.
The apparent breakthrough on the rescue plan was sealed ahead of an emergency meeting with President George W. Bush and the two men vying to succeed him, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.
Mr Bush said tonight he hopes to reach agreement on the deal “very shortly”.
"We're in a serious economic crisis in the country if we don't pass a piece of legislation," Mr Bush told reporters. "We know we've got to get something done as quickly as possible."
"My hope is that we can reach an agreement very shortly," he said flanked by House and Senate leaders as well as Mr McCain and Mr Obama.
Earlier, Senator Christopher Dodd, chairman of the US Senate Banking Committee, said House and Senate negotiators had reached "fundamental agreement" on a set of principles guiding a bailout bill.
Predicting an evening of horse-trading before a final agreement is reached, the House Republican leader said his party has not yet agreed to a deal, but progress was encouraging.
Representative John Boehner of Ohio said in a statement: "I am encouraged by the bipartisan progress," but "House Republicans have not agreed to any plan at this point."
But other Republicans were more encouraged. Republican Senator Robert Bennett of Utah, after a closed-door meeting on the bailout package, said, "We now expect that we will have a plan that can pass the House, pass the Senate and be signed by the president."
Rep Barney Frank, the powerful Democratic chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said the deal would give the money to the US Treasury in installments rather than a $700 billion lump sum the Bush administration wanted.
He also said the deal would allow the government to take part-ownership of banks, ban companies who sell toxic assets to the government from paying massive "golden parachutes" to executives being fired and include measures to help some Americans avoid losing their homes.
Mr Obama and Mr McCain have urged both parties to come together to reach a deal.
"It is difficult to act both quickly and wisely, but that is what is required of us right now. Time is short, and doing nothing is not an option," Mr McCain said in New York before flying to Washington.
Mr Obama said in Clearwater, Florida that an agreement appeared near, before he headed to Washington. "Now is the time to come together, Democrats and Republicans, in a spirit of cooperation on behalf of the American people," Mr Obama said by video linkup to a New York conference.
A rescue deal would allow the two men to meet as scheduled tomorrow night in Oxford, Mississippi, at the first of three face-to-face debates that could prove pivotal as to who wins the election.
The Bush administration hopes the bailout can restore liquidity to the market and revive the foundering US economy. The $700 billion would be used to buy up toxic mortgage-related securities held by financial firms. The US housing market slump has sent the value of those securities plummeting.
Critics have expressed concern that a bailout will let freewheeling bankers get off too lightly, and doubts have surfaced over whether the plan can solve the wider credit crisis.
The frenzy of meetings in Washington follows signs of fresh trouble in the world's biggest economy. Orders for US manufactured goods plunged in August, and the number of workers filing new claims for jobless benefits shot up, according to government reports that showed the economy rapidly weakening.
Top US industrial conglomerate General Electric issued a rare profit warning, citing "unprecedented weakness and volatility" in the financial services market.
Reuters