Spending deal clears obstacle in shutdown fight

The top appropriators in the House and Senate on Tuesday struck a deal on spending allocations, clearing a hurdle in the path toward reaching a broader deal to avoid a government shutdown on Dec. 11.

“This agreement allows bipartisan, bicameral negotiations to proceed at the subcommittee level and provides further momentum for enacting full year appropriations bills by the December 11 government funding deadline,” a House Democratic aide said.

Though overall spending levels for the 2021 fiscal year were hammered out last summer as part of a two-year spending deal, the Democratic-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate differed in their approaches to divvying up the funds between agencies in 12 spending bills.

House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), have been negotiating since shortly after the Nov. 3 election to find a compromise that would allow the 12 appropriations subcommittees to get on the same page with clear spending limits in order to iron out further differences.

Both Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) say they want to pass all 12 bills in an omnibus package by the Dec. 11 deadline in order to avoid a shutdown or the alternative of approving a stopgap measure, which would kick the can to the new year and the next administration on longer-term spending.

President Trump has remained mum on whether he will object to any of the provisions or use his veto power to insist on any specific policies, such as funding for a wall along the southern border.