According to Congressional leaders, they have come to a consensus on funding for the government.
government shutdown later this month.
The deal, valued at $1.66 trillion, allocates $886 billion towards defense and $772.7 billion towards non-defense expenditures, as stated by leaders from the Democratic party.
The topline is slightly above the $1.59 trillion that was reached in
A deal that was agreed upon by both political parties last year.
The revised version involves alterations to optional expenses that were previously agreed upon by President Biden and former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. It reduces COVID-19 expenditures by $6.1 billion and expedites the reduction of funds for the IRS.
Temporary funding extensions to maintain government operations.
We are currently under pressure to meet two urgent deadlines in order to avoid another government shutdown. The funding for departments such as Veterans programs, transportation, housing, agriculture, and energy is set to expire on Jan. 19, while the funding for eight other appropriations bills, including defense, will expire on Feb. 2.
“We need to prevent a shutdown, but Congress is now tasked with the difficulty of negotiating and drafting language, obtaining approval from both chambers, and getting the first four appropriations bills signed into law within a tight 12-day timeframe,” stated Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who is the leading Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, when discussing the agreement.
Negotiations have been hindered by disputes over the overall budget, as House Republicans have demanded significantly lower spending than what was agreed upon in a bipartisan budget agreement in May.
According to Louisiana Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, the current agreement may not meet everyone’s expectations due to its lack of significant spending cuts. However, he believes it is the most advantageous budget agreement that Republicans have accomplished in the past decade.
Schumer and Jeffries have informed Speaker Mike Johnson that Democrats will not back the inclusion of detrimental policy changes in any of the twelve appropriations bills presented to Congress.
Johnson and Schumer had a positive outlook in recent days regarding their ability to come to an agreement in the near future.
When asked about a possible shutdown, Johnson stated last week that we have been diligently and sincerely collaborating with the Senate and the White House regularly during the holiday season in an effort to reach a resolution.
Last week, Schumer expressed optimism for a potential agreement in the near future.
He expressed optimism about reaching a budget agreement soon and avoiding a shutdown, citing the significant progress that has been made in negotiations.
Reporting was contributed by Nikole Killion and Alan He.
Caitlin Yilek
Source: cbsnews.com