Once again, White House and congressional aides worked through the night on a new budget deal -- and they still couldn't nail one down.
The difference is that today is deadline day.
The federal government will run out of money at midnight and shut down many operations unless President Obama, Speaker of the House John Boehner, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, can strike some kind of deal in the hours ahead.
"What I've said to the Speaker and what I've said to Harry Reid is because the machinery of the shutdown is necessarily starting to move, I expect an answer in the morning," Obama said last night after a meeting with congressional leaders.
Until then, talks continue.
The issues not only include the amount of money to cut from the budget, but which specific programs.
The Democrats have talked about $33 billion U.S. from existing spending plans, while the Republicans have come down to around $40 billion U.S.
But some officials said the bigger problem now is the Republican demands that a budget bill include other items, known legislative parlance as "riders." These riders range from cutting the funds of National Public Radio to limiting the enforcement powers of the Environmental Protection Agency.
A proposal to de-fund Planned Parenthood because of its abortion programs has been a particularly thorny issue.
House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer, told NBC's Today show that the parties are "70% of the way on the numbers," but stalled over the social issues like the Planned Parenthood/abortion issue.
The continuing resolution that is funding the federal government expires at midnight. Without a new deal, the government will have to shut down operations that are deemed non-essential, and that ranges from closing national parks to sending federal employees home.
One thing to remember: Obama and Congress could agree to another temporary extension as negotiators work on a long-term deal.
Reid and Boehner, meanwhile, issued a joint statement last night: "We have narrowed the issues, however, we have not yet reached an agreement. We will continue to work through the night to attempt to resolve our remaining differences."
We'll soon see how successful they've been.
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