A bill may be filed as early as Monday night that would raise the debt ceiling and set spending limits for the next two years, a top House aide confirmed to the Washington Examiner.
Lawmakers have been negotiating with President Obama since Sept. 17 on a budget plan that would set spending levels for fiscal years 2016 and 2017, and they appear close, although a final deal is not complete yet.
According to the aide, the deal would accomplish some big goals set by the Democrats, including a no-strings-attached increase in the nation’s $18.1 trillion debt limit until March 2017. It’s unclear how high the caps would be lifted under the agreement.
Related Story: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/article/2574118/
The deal would also include an equal increase in spending caps for both defense and domestic spending, which Democrats have been demanding for months. Republican leaders had been trying to push through a spending increase only for the Department of Defense.
The budget deal in the works would also eliminate an increase in Medicare Part B premiums and deductibles for seniors that was triggered when the federal government announced no cost-of-living increase in Social Security payments.
The deal also reportedly includes a big win for Republicans by making spending reforms to Medicare and Social Security.
Republicans have tried to boost Pentagon spending by $38 billion through a budgetary gimmick that takes funds from an overseas war account. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly called for the spending caps to be lifted by $75 billion, divided equally between military and domestic accounts.
A House source said lawmakers are aiming to finish the deal by tonight, in time to file legislation by the end of Monday’s session.
Congress faces several budget deadlines, and this deal would sweep most of them out of the way. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has warned Congress it must raise the debt limit by Nov. 3 or he would run out of funds to pay all of the nation’s bills, which could necessitate a spending reduction.
Spending legislation to fund the federal government is set to expire on Dec. 11, while the Medicare Part B increases would kick in on January 1, unless addressed by Congress.
The deal comes as House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, prepares to retire on Friday. Boehner is likely to be succeeded by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., in a Thursday election.
Boehner has said he planned to complete as many legislative deals as he could before handing over the gavel to Ryan.
