Congress narrowly averted a government shutdown late Friday night after Republicans and Democrats reached a last-minute deal on historic spending cuts in the 2011 budget.
Just around midnight, House and Senate approved a six-day “bridge” bill that will keep the government operating while they draft bipartisan legislation to fund the government for the final six months of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.
The deal came after days of bickering and political posturing by both parties, with but sides refusing to compromise and the midnight deadline that would have sparked a shutdown approaching.
But ultimately, Democratic and Republican leaders feared a government shutdown would damage them politically, with polls showing voters opposed to a work stoppage but evenly divided over which party would be to blame for it.
“This has been a long process and it has not been an easy process,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said after the deal was reached. “Both sides had to make tough choices but tough choices is what this job is all about.”
Under the terms of the agreement, the six-month bill will slash $38.5 billion from current spending levels, which is $23 billion less than the reductions Republicans originally demanded but $30 billion more than what Democrats had initially offered to cut.
President Obama praised the budget compromise and the prevention of a shutdown. He warned the cuts would affect services and infrastructure work, even as he acknowledged the need for spending reductions. “I would not have made these cuts in better circumstances,” Obama said.
The bill does not include a Republican provision to de-fund Planned Parenthood, which provides health care services for women, including abortion. The Planned Parenthood provision was one of the main sticking points during the negotiations, with the GOP insisting it remain in the bill.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, agreed to remove the Planned Parenthood provision in exchange for an agreement that would allow Congress to take up the funding issue separately.The Republicans also won inclusion of a provision that will require the Senate to vote on a bill to de-fund the health care reform law.
Another provision won by Republicans would prohibit the District of Columbia from spending local or federal funds on abortion services.
Boehner announced the deal to his rank-and-file late Friday night and received enthusiastic applause, although some Republicans said they opposed the deal because the cuts didn’t equal the $61 billion that the House had already approved but the Democratically controlled Senate had killed.
Twenty-eight Republicans showed their opposition to the overall agreement by voting against the short-term spending deal, which keeps the government operating through next Thursday and cuts spending by $2 billion. The bill passed overwhelmingly, 348 to 70. The Senate passed it by voice vote.
