Bipartisan budget talks led by Vice President Biden collapsed Thursday after the top two Republican negotiators pulled out, complaining Democrats won't drop their push for tax increases and calling on the president to get involved.

The decision by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., effectively sidelines the talks, which had accelerated in recent weeks as lawmakers tried to strike a budget deal that would pave the way for Congress to approve an increase in the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling. The clock is ticking, with the Treasury Department having set Aug. 2 as the deadline to lift the debt cap.

Republicans want to extract major budget cuts before accepting a debt ceiling increase, but do not want tax hikes included as part of the equation.

The pressure on lawmakers to strike a budget deal became even heavier Monday as the U.S. government bumped up against its $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, triggering a string of last-resort measures from the Treasury Department to keep the country from going into default.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner formally notified Congress Monday morning that the government would reach the statutory debt limit, forcing his department to suspend investments to two government employee retirement funds and "redeem a portion" of prior investments, a move the department claims will not affect federal workers.

The soft debt-ceiling deadline comes and goes as lawmakers from both parties continue to meet with White House officials in hopes of reaching a deficit-reduction agreement. Both sides say they're ready to deal, but they disagree over how much and what to cut.

Three-term Sen. Jon Kyl will announce his retirement at a noon ET news conference Thursday in Phoenix, two Republican sources confirmed to Fox News.

The Arizona lawmaker, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, will be the fifth senator scheduled for re-election next year to announce a departure from Congress in 2012.

Kyl, 68, served four terms in the House before winning a Senate seat. In 2006, he was named one of the 10 best senators by Time Magazine...

Congressional leaders of both parties suggested Sunday that they could reach a deal to extend all Bush-era tax rates as early as this week and that it would include an agreement by Republicans to also extend unemployment benefits for millions of jobless Americans.

"I think that most folks believe that the recipe would include at least an extension of unemployment benefits for those who are unemployed and an extension of all of the tax rates for all Americans for some period of time," said Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, Arizona Republican. "I think an agreement could be reached in the relatively near future."

Senate Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, acknowledged that negotiations are "moving in that direction," though he said this was against his judgment and added that he could not accept a deal in Congress' lame-duck session that failed to include extended jobless benefits...

The Obama administration has a lot of fights on its hands. Putting aside real wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, there's the battle against leaking oil in the Gulf, the struggle against 9.7 percent unemployment across the country, and clashes over the president's agenda on Capitol Hill. Despite all that, the White House has found time to issue a new declaration of war, this time against an unlikely enemy: the state of Arizona.

The Justice Department is preparing to sue Arizona over its new immigration law. The president has stiffed Gov. Jan Brewer's call for meaningful assistance in efforts to secure the border. And the White House has accused Arizona's junior senator, Republican Jon Kyl, of lying about an Oval Office discussion with the president over comprehensive immigration reform. Put them all together, and you have an ugly state of affairs that's getting uglier by the day...

The phone in Sen. John Thune's office is about to start ringing -- a lot.

The South Dakota Republican -- who also leads the Senate GOP Policy Committee and is widely viewed as a 2012 presidential contender --is up for re-election this year. But no Democrat or Independent filed to run against him, leaving him with plenty of time and money to help Republicans win seats this November as the party seeks to regain a true sense of relevancy on Capitol Hill.

National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) said Thursday he planned to meet with Thune soon to explore ways the up-and-coming first-term Senator could help the NRSC and GOP candidates from now until Election Day. Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) added that he fully expects Thune to be a strong political asset over the next 135 days...

Arizona's two senators on Monday said violence has skyrocketed on the U.S.-Mexico border, and called on President Obama to deploy National Guard troops, finish building 700 miles of fence and add 3,000 new Border Patrol agents to the region by 2015.

Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl, both Republicans, said the National Guard deployment -- which they said was effective four years ago when President George W. Bush ordered a similar deployment -- should last until the governor of Arizona certifies the government has operational control of the border.

"The situation has spiraled out of control," Mr. McCain said. Of those caught crossing the border illegally, he said, 17 percent are found to have committed crimes in Arizona previously...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Abortion advocates are attempting to use a quote from pro-life Sen Jon Kyl of Arizona to paint him as anti-woman. During a recent exchange as a Senate committee considered a pro-abortion health care bill, Kyl made a point about driving up health care costs by requiring certain coverage.

“I don't need maternity care,” Kyl said about requirements that would make some pay for maternity coverage. “And so requiring that to be in my insurance policy is something that I don't need and will make the policy more expensive.”

Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a pro-abortion Michigan lawmaker, responded: “I think your mom probably did.”

Kyl shot back, “Yeah, over 60 years ago my mom did”...

WASHINGTON – Tempers are flaring as the Senate Finance Committee starts its third day of exhaustive deliberations on a sweeping overhaul of the health care system.

Republican Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona indignantly raised his voice after committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana urged him to hurry up and finish a point. An outwardly irritated Kyl told Baucus he was not delaying, but was instead trying to make an extremely important point about flaws in the legislation. Baucus shot back that while Kyl's point might be important, he also was holding up the panel's work.

Kyl was speaking in favor of a GOP amendment that could have prevented the government from implementing the bill — even if it's passed and signed into law.