![]() Lawmakers in Washington are close to giving final approval to a spending agreement that will keep the government running, maintain and even increase defense spending, and reduce appropriations for other items. “The topline constitutes $1.590 trillion,” Speaker Mike Johnson announced in a letter to House members, noting that that figure is the statutory level defined in the Fiscal Responsibility Act. A negotiated agreement between the House and Senate leadership, continued Johnson, “includes $866 billion for defense and $704 billion for nondefense.” In a separate statement, Johnson particularly underlined the importance of funding the National Defense Authorization Act, which he said would both strengthen national security while also supporting “our service members by providing them with the tools necessary to continue to continue to be the most lethal and effective fighting force in the world.” The new debt limit deal is mostly modeled after an agreement forged between former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Biden last year. But while that deal ultimately prompted a small group of Republican lawmakers to declare their opposition and risk a shutdown, Johnson is thought to have more wiggle room. Calling a shutdown a “bad idea,” Ohio Republican Dave Joyce remarked to The Hill publication: “When we shut down, it costs us $60 million a day.” Among the other funding issues that legislative leaders are hoping to tackle in the coming weeks is a proposal for $23.5 billion for disaster relief response. President Biden, hailing the latest news from Capitol Hill, said in a statement that the “bipartisan funding framework Congressional leaders have reached moves us one step closer to preventing a needless government shutdown and protecting important national priorities.” House and Senate members are now tasked with trying to write and pass a series of underlying bills designed to fund the government at the very time that several federal agencies are getting close to running out of money. Those agencies include the Department of Transportation as well as the much of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Internal Revenue Service would cease examining and auditing work, while its automated tax collection service would remain operational. By Garry Boulard
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