Fitch: US still AAA nation, but dangers loom

The United States is still a AAA nation in the eyes of FitchRatings, which affirmed the United States's top-shelf rating Tuesday.

However, the agency warned that high-stakes brinkmanship from Congress on either the "fiscal cliff" or the debt limit in the coming months could threaten that rating.

In updated analysis, Fitch said it views it as "likely" that lawmakers will resolve the fiscal cliff by either repealing or delaying "all or some" of the automatic spending cuts and tax increases set to take effect on Jan. 1.

But if lawmakers fail to strike a deal on averting the glut of extreme policy swings set for 2012, it could push the country into "an unnecessary and avoidable recession," which would threaten the AAA rating.

Fitch also warned that it expects the debt limit will again need to be raised in early 2013. While it views the odds of the United States defaulting on its debt as "extremely low," it added that last-minute deals to raise it, coupled with regular threats of default, do weigh on the nation's credit reputation.

Fitch, along with Moody's Investors Service, still assigns its highest possible ratings to U.S. debt, citing its robust and varied economy. However, both have also issued stern warnings about the trajectory of the nation's finances, indicating that the top rating could be in jeopardy without a change in course.

Fitch assigned a negative outlook to the nation's credit rating following the failure of the deficit-busting "supercommittee" in November. The move indicates that the agency is more likely than not to downgrade the United States without changes in course. It said Tuesday that it expects to reach a decision on the nation's credit rating in late 2013, after evaluating whatever fiscal plans emerge following the presidential election.

In August, Standard & Poor's issued the first-ever downgrade to the nation's credit rating, citing the last dramatic congressional fight over raising the debt limit.

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