U.S. Officials Brace for S&P Downgrade: CNBC, ABC

We wonder if it's the same individual who talked to CNBC and ABC News, but it's hard to tell since ABC identified their source as "a government official," while CNBC's is merely "someone familiar with the matter." But the information is essentially the same: the federal government is expecting and preparing for a downgrade by Standard & Poor's Corp.

The official told ABC that S&P will cite "the political confusion surrounding the process of raising the debt ceiling, ... lack of confidence that the political system will be able to agree to more deficit reduction" and Republicans' stance "that they refuse to accept any tax increases as part of a larger deal." It's unclear how many notches below AAA Uncle Sam's credit rating would fall. 

CNBC has more details on timing: a downgrade could happen "as early as this evening," though S&P could instead "take other possible action." The cable channel also has a no-comment from S&P.