Deal!

Dems and GOP Agree to Budget

Congress passes stopgap to keep government running.

Congressional leaders and President Obama took budget negotiations down to the wire, coming to an agreement on cuts barely an hour before the government was to shut down at midnight Friday night. The deal—still tentative at this point—cuts about $38 billion from federal spending this year. It's more than the Democrats wanted to cut, but without the Planned Parenthood and environmental regulation riders the GOP had been pushing for. “Programs people rely on will be cut back,” said Obama. “Needed infrastructure projects will be delayed.” House Speaker John Boehner was more upbeat about the deal, saying Republicans “fought to keep government spending down because it really will in fact help create a better environment for job creators in our country.” The deal is still tentative, and Congress passed a one-week stopgap budget to give them time to put it into legislative form.