'break an impasse' is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when describing a situation that has reached a standstill and needs a resolution. For example, "The unions and the company have been in negotiations for weeks, but they still haven't been able to break the impasse over wage increases."
Talks on new rules for hedge funds and private equity have so far failed to break an impasse over the treatment of offshore and foreign funds.
But the real aim of the proposals was to rattle state political leaders enough to break an impasse over a rescue for the M.T.A.
PAGE A12 McCain on Patients' Rights Senator John McCain, a Republican, will join Democrats in proposing legislation intended to break an impasse on patients' rights.
[World Business, Section W.] McCain to Join Patient Legislation Senator John McCain will join Democrats in proposing legislation intended to break an impasse over patients' rights.
Shaw will become Louis van Gaal's second signing after Herrera bought himself out of his contract with Athletic Bilbao to break an impasse over his move.
Mr. Medvedev also left little hope that he and Mr. Obama could break an impasse on a planned missile defense shield, which Russia fears could intercept its own nuclear missiles.
Senators who favor a permanent ban on taxes on Internet access have broken an impasse that has lasted months.
He broke an impasse that made the N.F.L. merger with the American Football League possible by agreeing to shift the Browns to the A.F.C.
The Palestinians ultimately decided that the best hope for breaking an impasse with the Israelis rested with making their case to a larger international forum.
The jury also broke an impasse over the claims of a third woman, Melissa Robinson, 37, and found that DuPont was responsible for her rheumatoid arthritis and a hysterectomy.
