House, Senate leaders reach deal on government spending levels

WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders on Sunday announced an agreement on overall funding levels as lawmakers face a possible government shutdown.

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The deal that was reached was a $1.66 trillion agreement to finance the federal government in 2024, The Washington Post reported. It will bring funding in line with a deal that was made last year between President Joe Biden and then-House speaker Kevin McCarthy, The New York Times reported.

The agreement includes an increase in Pentagon spending to $886.3 billion and it will hold nondefense funding at $772.7 billion, the Times reported. It will include $69 billion that was agreed upon in a deal between McCarthy and the White House.

“By securing the $772.7 billion for nondefense discretionary funding, we can protect key domestic priorities like veterans benefits, health care and nutrition assistance from the draconian cuts sought by right-wing extremists,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the majority leader, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a joint statement obtained by the newspaper.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said in a letter to his colleagues he went over the spending reductions that Republicans were able to secure, which included an extra $10 billion from the IRS, the Times reported. He said it was because of it was “result is real savings to American taxpayers and real reductions in the federal bureaucracy.”

There are still some hurdles Congress has to face, which includes two upcoming deadlines on Jan. 19 and Feb. 2, according to CNN.

“The bipartisan funding framework congressional leaders have reached moves us one step closer to preventing a needless government shutdown and protecting important national priorities. It reflects the funding levels that I negotiated with both parties and signed into law last spring. It rejects deep cuts to programs hardworking families count on, and provides a path to passing full-year funding bills that deliver for the American people and are free of any extreme policies,” Biden said in a statement from the White House. “I want to thank Leaders Schumer and Jeffries for their leadership in reaching this framework. Now, congressional Republicans must do their job, stop threatening to shut down the government, and fulfill their basic responsibility to fund critical domestic and national security priorities, including my supplemental request. It’s time for them to act.”

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