Congress has reached a deal to avoid a government shutdown, according to negotiators.
The breakthrough was announced in statements from three appropriations negotiators, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), though no specifics were given. Negotiators had been clamoring to reach a deal before a partial government shutdown would commence on Friday.
“Today, Vice Chairman Shelby, Chair DeLauro, and I reached a bipartisan, bicameral framework that should allow us to finish an omnibus appropriations bill that can pass the House and Senate and be signed into law by the President,” Leahy said in a statement.
“The pain of inflation is real, and it is being felt across the federal government and by American families right now,” he added. “We cannot delay our work any further, and a two-month continuing resolution does not provide any relief. I look forward to continuing to work with my friend, Vice Chairman Shelby, and Chair DeLauro over the next week to finish the job the American people sent us here to do.”
Negotiators were previously stuck on a top-line number for the omnibus bill and were at odds over roughly $26 billion in nondefense spending. Republicans argued that Democrats funded their domestic priorities through spending bills passed already this Congress, while Democrats argued that Republicans were abandoning the concept of “parity” in spending, in which increases in defense spending are accompanied by increases in domestic spending.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) had previously warned that time was running out to cut a deal and said Democrats would soon have to settle for a short-term extension of government funding, known as a continuing resolution, that would punt an agreement to the next session of Congress.
If the deal were to fail, Democrats would have a much harder time negotiating after Jan. 3, when Republicans take control of the House.
