(Washington) Congressional leaders have reached an agreement on overall spending levels for the current fiscal year, which could help avoid a partial government shutdown later this month.
Posted at 5.51pm
Kevin Freking Associated Press
The deal relies largely on defense spending limits and domestic programs established by Congress as part of a bill to suspend the debt ceiling until 2025. But it makes some concessions to Republicans in the House of Representatives, who have considered the spending restrictions contained in this agreement. insufficient.
In a letter to colleagues, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that he will secure an additional $16 billion in spending cuts over the previous deal negotiated by then-President Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden, or about $30 billion less than what the Senate was considering.
“This represents the most favorable budget deal Republicans have reached in more than a decade,” Johnson wrote.
The House’s most conservative Republicans opposed the previous debt ceiling deal and even interrupted the House for a few days to show their displeasure. Many certainly wanted further concessions, but Democrats insisted on sticking to the ceiling on debt spending, leaving Johnson in a difficult situation.
Biden said the deal “brings us one step closer to preventing an unnecessary government shutdown and protecting important national priorities.”
“This reflects the funding levels I negotiated with both parties and signed into law last spring. “It rejects deep cuts to programs that hard-working families rely on and clears the way for passing full-year funding bills that meet the expectations of the American people and are free from extreme policies,” Biden said in a note.
The deal accelerates about $20 billion in cuts already agreed to for the Internal Revenue Service and erases about $6 billion in COVID-19 relief funds that had been approved but not yet spent, according to Johnson.
Lawmakers needed to agree on overall spending levels so officials could draft bills that set line-by-line funding for agencies. Funding will expire Jan. 19 for some agencies and Feb. 2 for others.
The deal is separate from ongoing negotiations to secure additional funding for Israel and Ukraine while reducing restrictions on asylum claims at the U.S. border.
In a joint statement, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries also expressed support for the deal.
“It will also allow us to maintain the investments in hard-working American families that have been secured by the legislative achievements of President Biden and congressional Democrats,” Schumer and Jeffries argued.
“Finally, we have made it clear to House Speaker Mike Johnson that Democrats will not support the inclusion of amendments to kill any of the 12 appropriations bills before Congress. »
2024-01-07 22:51:44
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