美国众议院星期五就一项可能迫使国会平衡预算的法案进行投票。与此同时，一个跨党派的委员会正为在下周关键截止日期之前确定预算削减项目而绞尽脑汁。
这项立法可能会修改美国宪法，要求国会在任何一个财政年度都不能入不敷出。投票预计星期五下午进行。
目前还不清楚，这个由众议院多数党共和党推动的立法是否能够通过。支持者说，这项修正案对遏止美国债务不断膨胀来说必不可少。本周早些时候，美国的债务已经超过15万亿美元。
与此同时，由12人组成的“超级委员会”的国会参众两院赤字削减特别联合委员会也应在下星期三午夜之前拿出在未来十年削减1.2万亿美元联邦支出的方案，否则将导致国防和一些国内项目从2013年1月开始面临开支自动削减的危机。
国会议员的助手们说，该委员会在制定削减赤字全面计划方面进展缓慢。
来自民主党的总统奥巴马已经表示，愿意调整为退休人员提供收入和医疗保险的昂贵的计划。奥巴马说，他希望该委员会的领导人们未来几天尽最大努力达成协议。
批评人士认为，为平衡预算而大幅度削减开支的做法将会对已经很脆弱的经济带来负面影响。
The U.S. House of Representatives votes Friday on legislation that would force Congress to balance its budget, while a bipartisan committee scrambles to identify budget cuts ahead of a key deadline next week.
The legislation would amend the U.S. Constitution to require that Congress not spend more than it receives in any given fiscal year. The vote is expected Friday afternoon. It is unclear if the measure, which is being pushed by majority Republicans, will pass.
Supporters say the amendment is necessary to stop the country's ballooning national debt, which passed $15 trillion earlier this week.
Meanwhile, the 12-member, congressional "supercommittee" has until midnight on Wednesday to cut $1.2 trillion in federal spending over the next decade or risk massive automatic cuts to defense and domestic programs beginning in January 2013. Congressional aides say the committee is making little progress on a comprehensive deal to reduce the deficit.
President Barack Obama, a Democrat, has signaled a willingness to restructure costly programs that provide income and health care to retirees. Mr. Obama has said he hopes the leaders of the committee will do what is necessary in the coming days to agree on a plan.
Critics argue that the drastic spending cuts needed to balance the budget would negatively impact an already weak economy.