President Barack Obama and the speaker of the House met on Sunday to discuss the so-called fiscal cliff of impending tax hikes and spending cuts, the White House said.

No details of the talks were given, but a White House statement said "the lines of communication remain open."

That sounded relatively upbeat. On Friday, House speaker John Boehner had reported "no progress" in deficit talks. He accused the White House of recklessly pushing the country to the fiscal brink over tax hikes.