(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.
The deal relies largely on spending caps on defense and domestic programs set by Congress as part of a bill to suspend the debt ceiling through 2025. But it grants some concessions to Republicans in the House of Representatives, who considered the spending restrictions contained in this agreement insufficient.
In a letter to colleagues, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday he would secure $16 billion in additional spending cuts over the previous deal negotiated by then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy. and President Joe Biden, which is about $30 billion less than the Senate was considering.
“This represents the most favorable budget deal Republicans have achieved in more than a decade,” Mr. Johnson wrote.
The House’s most conservative Republicans opposed the previous debt ceiling deal and even interrupted House proceedings for a few days to show their displeasure. Many surely wanted additional concessions, but Democrats insisted on sticking to the debt spending cap, leaving Mr. Johnson in a difficult situation.
Mr. 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 passage of full-year funding bills that meet the expectations of the American people and are free from extreme politics,” Mr. Biden said in a statement.
The deal accelerates about $20 billion in cuts already agreed to for the Internal Revenue Service and cancels about $6 billion in COVID-19 relief funds that had been approved but not yet spent, according to Mr. Johnson.
Lawmakers needed agreement on overall spending levels so officials could draft the bills setting line-by-line funding for agencies. Funding is set to expire on January 19 for some agencies and February 2 for others.
The deal is separate from ongoing negotiations to secure additional funding for Israel and Ukraine while reducing restrictions on asylum applications 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 investments in hard-working American families, guaranteed by the legislative achievements of President Biden and Congressional Democrats,” Mr. Schumer and Mr. Jeffries argued.
“Finally, we have made it clear to House Speaker Mike Johnson that Democrats will not support the inclusion of amendments to nip any of the 12 appropriations bills submitted in Congress. »