Democrats and Republicans in Congress reached a deal on Tuesday to fund federal government activities through next March and eliminate any threat of agency shutdowns that could upset voters ahead of the November 6 presidential and congressional elections.
The deal, announced by House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, would fund discretionary federal programs - from defense and foreign aid to education and medical research - at an annual rate of $1.047 trillion, the level specified in last year's debt limit deal.
The full House and Senate would still need to approve the measure by September 30, the end of the current fiscal year, when funding runs out. Congress will be in recess most of August and the first week of September.
If passed by Congress, the deal for a six-month spending extension eliminates one layer of difficult year-end bills Congress must grapple with just after the election as it deals with the "fiscal cliff" of expiring tax cuts, automatic spending cuts, a debt-limit increase and other fiscal deadlines that economists say if not averted could harm an already-weak economy.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/31/us-usa-congress-agreement-idUSBRE86U18D20120731
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