Congress leaders reach a tentative deal to delay government shutdowns – By Lisa Mascaro and Kevin Freking (Federal Times) / Feb 29, 2024
Congressional leaders announced Wednesday they have reached a tentative agreement to prevent a government shutdown for now, days before an end-of-the-week deadline that risked shuttering some federal operations.
Under the new plan, Congress would temporarily fund one set of federal agencies through March 8 and another set through March 22. In the meantime, Congress will try to draft and pass packages of legislation to fund the government for the remainder of the budget year.
But there was no immediate plan to approve the $95 billion emergency national security funds for Ukraine, Israel and other allies.
“We are in agreement that Congress must work in a bipartisan manner to fund our government,” said the joint statement from House Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, along with the Appropriation Committee leaders.
