An agreement reached by congressional leaders and President Barack Obama to fund the U.S. government through March will give lawmakers time to debate $607 billion in spending cuts and tax increases scheduled to start in January.
The House and Senate haven’t come up with a plan to avert the spending cuts, which total $1.2 trillion over 10 years. Unless Congress acts, the George W. Bush-era tax cuts and other tax breaks will expire Dec. 31.
