财政悬崖逼近之际，奥巴马将返回华盛顿

U.S. President Barack Obama is cutting short his vacation in ((the Pacific state of)) Hawaii and will return to Washington to resume talks with congressional leaders aimed at reaching agreement on a deficit reduction package before the year ends.

The White House says Mr. Obama will leave Wednesday and is expected to arrive back in Washington early Thursday.

Early last week, the president said he and Republican House Speaker John Boehner were relatively close to an agreement on a compromise to avert what is being called a "fiscal cliff" -- $500 billion in mandated spending cuts and tax increases that would affect almost all American workers starting January 1. But by the end of last week, those efforts were in disarray as lawmakers fled Washington for their Christmas holiday break.