In the week since the U.S. government issued a disappointing May jobs report, the White House has been asked whether the president would propose new policies to spur hiring and to jolt the economy and his reelection prospects.
At the annual National Governors Association meeting, both Democrat and Republican chief executives expressed pessimism that both sides could find a way to avoid the massive, automatic spending cuts set to begin March 1, pointing to the impasse as another crisis between the White House and Congress that hampers their ability to construct state spending plans and spooks local businesses from hiring.