Congress Seeking Bigger Budget Deal While Avoiding Shutdown
- Six-week House spending bill may yield to longer-term plan
- Congressional leaders are negotiating a two-year budget accord
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The short-term spending bill passed by the House to avoid a government shutdown this Friday may get replaced with a longer-term budget plan that raises spending caps for defense and domestic programs if congressional leaders can wrap up a deal in the next two days.
The House bill, passed 245-182 Tuesday, would keep the government open only until March 23 while funding the Pentagon through September. But Republican and Democratic leaders in both chambers are working on a two-year budget plan that -- if that comes together -- may be combined with other important but stalled measures, including lifting the federal debt ceiling and hurricane disaster aid.