Congress strikes spending deal

last updated 8 January 2015

Congressional leaders this week tentatively agreed to a short-term spending deal that would remove the possibility of a government shutdown during the fall campaign season. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced that Congress would fund the government for six months after the current fiscal year ends, on Sept. 30, setting spending for the year at $1.047 trillion. This guarantees the government will have operating funds through next March. Reid and Boehner agreed that more time is needed to draft the deal into legislation and that it will not come up for votes in the House and the Senate until September.