Senate Leaders Announce Bipartisan Deal, Vote Now Goes to the House
Just a day before the federal government reaches its borrowing limit, Senate leaders announced Wednesday that they have struck a deal to re-open the government and avert a potentially cataclysmic default on U.S. debt payments.
The final package, unveiled by Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on the Senate floor, would fund the government through Jan. 15 and raise the debt ceiling thorough Feb. 7.
The bill also would strengthen income verification requirements for those who sign up for insurance under Obamacare, and it would provide time for both parties to appoint lawmakers to a conference committee to reconcile a broad budget resolution, which would be led by Budget Committee heads Republican Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington. The panel would be required to announce the result of its negotiations by Dec. 13.
This has been a long challenging few weeks for Congress and for the country," McConnell said. Its my hope that today we can put some of the most urgent issues behind us."
The deal drew a quick, warm welcome from President Barack Obama, who "applauds" Reid and McConnell "for working together to forge this compromise" and hopes Congress will pass it "as soon as possible," spokesman Jay Carney said.
He looks forward to Congress acting so that he can sign legislation that will reopen the government and will remove this threat from our economy," Carney told reporters at his daily briefing.
With the guidelines of the deal set, congressional officials are still puzzling over the next procedural steps. While the deal was being crafted almost entirely by Senate staff, aides underlined that it is still very possible that the House would end up casting the first votes of the day.
It the House did act first, it was not clear whether it would vote on the Reid-McConnell deal or on legislation that would serve as a vessel for a final compromise, helping to strip away potential parliamentary procedural roadblocks.
But any House vote is expected to rely heavily on the lions share of Democrats 200 votes to secure passage. Depending on the legislation, that could leave the Senate to strike the final blow to a crisis that already has rattled bond markets and left observers around the world shaking their heads at Washingtons enthusiastic dysfunction.
Senate leaders announce bipartisan deal
Just a day before the federal government reaches its borrowing limit, Senate leaders announced Wednesday that they have struck a deal to re-open the government and avert a potentially cataclysmic default on U.S. debt payments.
The final package, unveiled by Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on the Senate floor, would fund the government through Jan. 15 and raise the debt ceiling thorough Feb. 7.
The bill also would strengthen income verification requirements for those who sign up for insurance under Obamacare, and it would provide time for both parties to appoint lawmakers to a conference committee to reconcile a broad budget resolution, which would be led by Budget Committee heads Republican Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington. The panel would be required to announce the result of its negotiations by Dec. 13.
This has been a long challenging few weeks for Congress and for the country," McConnell said. Its my hope that today we can put some of the most urgent issues behind us."
The deal drew a quick, warm welcome from President Barack Obama, who "applauds" Reid and McConnell "for working together to forge this compromise" and hopes Congress will pass it "as soon as possible," spokesman Jay Carney said.
He looks forward to Congress acting so that he can sign legislation that will reopen the government and will remove this threat from our economy," Carney told reporters at his daily briefing.
With the guidelines of the deal set, congressional officials are still puzzling over the next procedural steps. While the deal was being crafted almost entirely by Senate staff, aides underlined that it is still very possible that the House would end up casting the first votes of the day.
It the House did act first, it was not clear whether it would vote on the Reid-McConnell deal or on legislation that would serve as a vessel for a final compromise, helping to strip away potential parliamentary procedural roadblocks.
But any House vote is expected to rely heavily on the lions share of Democrats 200 votes to secure passage. Depending on the legislation, that could leave the Senate to strike the final blow to a crisis that already has rattled bond markets and left observers around the world shaking their heads at Washingtons enthusiastic dysfunction.
Senate leaders announce bipartisan deal
