Deal Reached On Federal Budget

(RTTNews) - A last-minute agreement has been reached on a federal budget, avoiding a government shut-down that threatened to take effect at midnight on Saturday.

Working deep into the night on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and House Speaker Jim Boehner, R-OH, announced a deal that will keep the government running and will sharply reduce spending.

The initial announcement of the budget deal did not include substantial details, but Congressional leaders revealed that the accord calls for spending cuts of $78.5 billion below the president's 2011 budget proposal. The deal also includes an agreement on policy riders.

"We didn't do it at this late hour for drama," Reid said of the budget agreement in a message from the Senate floor. "We did it because it has been very hard to arrive at this point."

As part of the program, Congress passed a short-term resolution that will keep the government running through Thursday. That short-term measure will cut the first $2 billion of the total savings. Legislators will then put together the full compromise package to send to President Barack Obama for his signature.

Speaking from the Blue Room in the White House, President Obama lauded the deal, saying it will "allow our smallbusinesses to get the loans they need, our families to get the mortgages they applied for, and hundreds of thousands of Americans to show up at work and take home their paychecks on time, including our brave men and women in uniform."

Congressional leaders had been scrambling to reach a deal that would avoid the government shut-down. There had been talk of a deal struck Thursday night, but by Friday a crisis seemed imminent.

As late as Friday afternoon, leaders from both parties were exchanging barbs with one another. Senator Reid characterized the Republicans' stand on certain issues related to the budget standoff as "ridiculous." Meanwhile, Boehner stated that any shut-down would be the Democrats' fault.

"There is only one reason that we do not have an agreement as yet and that issue is spending," he said earlier in the day. "When will the White House and when will Senate Democrats get serious about cutting spending?"

But by late Friday night, the tone had changed, as leaders announced they had reached a deal. Reid thanked both Boehner and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., from the Senate floor. For his part, McConnell reciprocated, offering his thanks to "my friend the Majority Leader and Speaker Boehner for their outstanding work during this difficult negotiation."

by RTT Staff Writer

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