Senate Leaders Say They've Reached 2-Year Budget Deal As Government Shutdown Looms
WASHINGTON (CBSNewYork) -- With a Thursday night deadline looming, Congress is working to avoid another partial government shutdown.
Senate leaders say they've reached a two-year budget deal that boosts spending for both the military and domestic programs.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced the agreement on the Senate floor and on Twitter Wednesday.
"This bill represents a significant bipartisan step forward," he said.
"I'm happy to announce that our bipartisan, bicameral negotiations on defense spending and other priorities have yielded a significant agreement," McConnell tweeted, thanking Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York.
Speaking on the Senate floor, Schumer called the agreement "the best thing we've done'' for the economy and the middle class.
"We have reached the budget deal that neither side loves but both sides can be proud of," he said.
The bipartisan deal addresses several looming crises, funding the government for six weeks and raising federal budget caps for two years, with the increase divided almost equally between defense and domestic spending, CBS2's Dick Brennan reported. It also lifts the nation's debt ceiling for a year and allocates $90 billion in emergency fund for areas hit by hurricanes and wildfires.
"The budget deal is a win for the American people," Schumer said. "It will also do so much good for our military."
"I'll support it. I think it's the best deal we can get," added Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. "To me, the main thing is funding the military."
The White House seemed happy with the budget details.
"We are pleased Congress has been able to meet our defense spending requirement and come together on a two-year spending bill," White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said.
But the plan still needs to pass the House, where it's already facing opposition, Brennan reported.
Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi wants House Republicans to allow a separate vote on legislation protecting immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children, known as Dreamers. The Senate has already promised to vote on the issue and Pelosi is seeking the same guarantee.
"Without that commitment from Speaker Ryan comparable to the commitment from Leader McConnell, this package does not have my support," she said.
Pelosi spoke on the House floor for eight hours Wednesday, holding out for a promise.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said he supports the Senate budget deal, but many conservatives seem hostile toward it.
"This spending bill is a debt-junkie's dream," said Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Alabama.
On the issue of Dreamers, Ryan's office said the speaker has repeatedly stated that he intends to do a DACA and immigration reform bill – one the president supports.
In the meantime, the White House is going forward with plans for a military parade in the United States, inspired by the one President Donald Trump witnessed in France last year on Bastille Day.
"It was one of the greatest parades I've ever seen," Trump said.
But the parade is getting mixed reviews.
"I'm not looking for a Soviet-style hardware display. That's not who we are. That's kind of cheesy and I think shows weakness, quite frankly," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, said. "But having a parade where we can display our finest, and we can all say thank you and honor them would that'd be fine."
"When you are the most powerful nation in all of human history, you don't have to show it off like Russia does, and North Korea and China," Sen. John Kennedy, R-Louisiana, added.
The Pentagon wants to have the parade on Veteran's Day, November 11. That would be after the midterm elections and would allow the military to steer clear of politics.
