Congressional Leaders Reach Deal on Federal Spending

US Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and House Republican Leader John Boehner have reached an agreement that would continue funding federal government spending for six more months following the expiration of the current fiscal year on September 30th. The two side will draft legislation during the coming August recess and present it to a vote of both bodies during September.

The funding level is set at $1.047 trillion, a level that House conservatives have already opposed. Providing that Boehner can deliver the votes in the House, the agreement extinguishes a possible federal government shutdown at the end of September.

The agreement does nothing to delay, dodge, or otherwise avoid the fiscal cliff approaching at the end of 2012. The expectation that Congress will do its job and prevent the US from falling off the fiscal cliff won’t  surface until after the November elections.

Paul Ausick