Congressional leaders agree on spending, key step to averting shutdown – By Kevin Freking (The Associated Press) / Jan 8, 2024
Congressional leaders said they reached an agreement on overall spending levels for the current fiscal year that could help avoid a partial government shutdown later this month.
The agreement largely hews to spending caps for defense and domestic programs that Congress set as part of a bill to suspend the debt limit until 2025. But it does provide some concessions to House Republicans who viewed the spending restrictions in that agreement as insufficient.
In a letter to colleagues, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday the agreement would secure $16 billion in additional spending cuts from the previous agreement brokered by then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden and is about $30 billion less than what the Senate was considering.
“This represents the most favorable budget agreement Republicans have achieved in over a decade,” Johnson writes.
