| US Congress reaches deal to avoid government shutdown |
WASHINGTON Democrats and Republicans in Congress have reached a deal to fund federal government activities through next March and eliminate any threat of agency shut downs that could upset voters ahead of the Nov. 6 presidential and congressional elections, legislative aides said on Tuesday.
The deal, which policymakers were expected to announce later on Tuesday, would fund discretionary federal programmes - from defense and foreign aid to education, transportation and medical research - at levels specified in last year’s debt limit deal, or about at an annual rate of $1.047 trillion.
The full House of Representatives and Senate would still need to approve the measure by Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year.
The temporary spending bill is needed because Congress has been unable to pass a series of appropriations bills to fund the government in fiscal 2013, which runs from this Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, 2013.
Last year, Republicans used threats of government shutdowns and a debt default to win spending cuts aimed at reducing huge annual budget deficits. But the uncertainties caused by these threats led to financial market turmoil and voter discontent.
With this tentative deal, Republicans are trying to avoid a rerun of those fights, which could damage chances for their party’s presidential candidate Mitt Romney and its bid to regain control of the Senate.
Republicans had sought to reduce the $1.047 trillion level set for discretionary spending bills for fiscal 2013 by $19 billion. But to secure an extension that reaches well into next year, they agreed to put their bid for deeper cuts on hold, aides said.
Should Republicans win big in November, the six-month extension would put them in a position for deeper cuts next year, rather than leaving spending decisions to a post-election, lame-duck Congress.
With few exceptions, about the most Congress may get done this year is a series of stop-gap measures.
The list of potential legislative casualties is growing.
A massive farm bill is hung up in the House, where Republicans might not have the votes to renew costly agriculture programs for another five years.
Reuters
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