Congress faces deadline on major bills The US Congress has only days to conclude two high-stakes deals on college loans and transport funding or face leaving more than 7m students with higher repayments and 3m construction workers being idled. If lawmakers take no action by Saturday night to pass new legislation, loan rates on new government-subsidised loans for undergraduate university students will double from 3.4 per cent to 6.8 per cent. On the same date, funding runs out for the transportation bill that for decades has funded America's highways and public transit systems through the petrol tax. Congress has passed nine short-term extensions for transport funding since last year but the failure to get a long-term measure through has raised alarm bells in the construction industry and prompted concern of further damage to the jobs market. The coming week will reveal whether the two pieces of legislation, that both Republicans and Democrats want in different ways to see enacted, will become the latest victims of election-year political paralysis. In both cases, the two parties disagree over how to cover the costs at a time of tightening budgets. In his weekly address, Mr Obama acknowledged that such legislation was difficult in an election year but that was no excuse. Let's make it easier for students to stay in college. Let's keep construction workers rebuilding our roads and bridges. And let's tell Congress to do their job," he said. Mr Obama has made obstruction in Congress central to his claims that the Republicans are standing in the way of policies that could help the economy recover more quickly. But while he could gain marginal mileage from the failure of the bills, the damage to the economy, and his re-election, could be even greater, especially if the transport funding lapses. Heading into the final week of talks, there appeared to be some progress in resolving the transport bill, with Barbara Boxer, the Democratic California senator, and John Mica, the Florida Republican congressman, saying they had made progress and aimed to "complete a package" this week. Ms Boxer and Mr Mica are understood to be working on a $109bn two-year bill, but serious sticking points remain, including fresh language on the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada. The pipeline was delayed by the Obama administration, but Republicans have made their support for the transport bill conditional on its approval. There are also divisions over environmental regulation. The initial Republican plan for a transport bill also left out funding for public transit, which has been part of such legislation for decades, an omission that lost it support in both parties. On student loans, Mr Obama has been among the most vocal in pressuring Congress to strike an agreement, using the issue as a way to shore up his support among youth voters and depict Capitol Hill as dysfunctional. The split between Republicans and Democrats on how to pay for the student loan extension is the only issue there. Over the past several weeks, both sides have proposed measures, without agreement, with the Republicans taking savings from Mr Obama's budget to make up the difference.