WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - The White House believes Republicans in the US House of Representatives will "do the right thing" and pass legislation to lift the debt limit and reopen the government, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Wednesday.

In the meantime, President Barack Obama has directed lawyers at the Defence Department and White House budget office to find an immediate legal fix for paying death benefits to military families, which were cut off during the government shutdown, Mr Carney said.

He said Mr Obama expects the death benefit problem to be fixed on Wednesday.