Lawmakers are back in Washington Thursday to work on a plan to solve the "fiscal cliff" crisis. But it's looking like no deal will be reached before the end of the year.

President Obama cut his Hawaiian Christmas vacation short to return to the nation's capital to address the matter.

If Washington doesn't act by New Year's Day, tax hikes and deep spending cuts will go into effect, something many lawmakers still want to avoid.

"I want us to not go over the cliff because I think if we do, it hurts our economy and it hurts our country," Sen. John Barrasso R-Wyo., said.

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congress the country is set to hit its borrowing limit on Monday.

He said he is preparing "emergency measures" to avoid reaching the debt ceiling limit.

Geithner added that he'll use "accounting measures" to save around $200 billion, saying the fiscal cliff crisis makes it hard to know just how long those measures will work.