The emerging budget deal is a small victory for Republicans

Civility might also make a small comeback in Washington, but Democrats have little else to cheer about

Paul Ryan
(Image credit: (Alex Wong/Getty Images))

The good news for Congress is that if both houses pass a budget deal by Friday, they get to go home for Christmas break with no high-stakes fiscal grudge match awaiting them when they get back. And the prospects for passing a budget deal being hammered out by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), maybe even without the histrionics of recent years, seem to be pretty good.

The contours of the deal are emerging in news reports, but the details are being closely held by Murray and Ryan and their teams. The two legislators head up the 29-member House-Senate conference committee set up by the deal that ended October's government shutdown, but they are widely expected to bypass the committee and bring the package directly to the floor of their respective chambers for a vote.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.