U.S. Senator Portman floats ideas to solve budget impasse

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Senator Rob Portman on Monday was circulating a plan to cut federal spending and reform the U.S. tax code as part of a broader plan to reopen shuttered government agencies and provide the Treasury Department with more borrowing authority in order to avoid a default.

A Senate Republican aide, who asked not to be identified, said that Portman's proposals were in an early stage with no guarantees that they would gain traction in a Congress deadlocked over budget and debt challenges.