This is why I despise RINO's in Congress and anywhere else.
This budget is full of crap conservatives have fought. And once again, they're going to sell us out.
This budget is full of crap conservatives have fought. And once again, they're going to sell us out.
White House, GOP near two-year budget deal
By Alexander Bolton - 10/26/15 12:35 PM EDT
Senior White House officials and congressional leaders are nearing a deal to raise the debt limit and set the federal budget for the next two years, say sources familiar with the talks.
The agreement is not yet final, as negotiators still need to settle a dispute over controversial policy riders, but congressional leaders hope to announce something Monday evening, according to a Senate source. The deal would cover the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years.
It would also raise the nation's debt ceiling to March 2017, according to a congressional source.
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White House budget director Shaun Donovan and legislative affairs director Katie Beirne Fallon are hammering out the package with staff representing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.).
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is expected to be elected Speaker on Thursday, but he has not taken part in these budget negotiations, aides said. Since announcing his plans to resign, Boehner has said he wants to "clean the barn up a little bit" before he leaves Congress at the end of the week.
“Hopefully we’re able to announce something this evening,” said the Senate source, who added the length of the agreement has yet to be finalized.
House GOP leaders will hold a special conference meeting at 6 p.m. Monday to discuss the pending agreement, aides said.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest acknowledged that administration officials have been a part of bipartisan budget talks on Capitol Hill. But he downplayed speculation that a deal is at hand.
“Not everything has been agreed to. That means nothing has been agreed to," Earnest told reporters. “We continue to urge Republicans to engage constructively with Democrats to find common ground and do the right thing for the country."
The Treasury Department has set a Nov. 3 deadline for raising the nation's $18.1 trillion debt limit. Lawmakers also face a Dec. 11 deadline to fund the government.
Members have been battling over how to fund the government and provide relief from a separate 2011 deal that created budget ceilings known as the sequester. Republicans have pushed to end the sequester for the Defense Department, but President Obama and Democrats want to get rid of the caps for both defense and nondefense spending.
A House source said that under the emerging package, both defense and nondefense programs would receive equal sequester relief.
Reid, speaking on the Senate floor, described the negotiations as "ongoing" and said it would raise defense and non-defense programs in equal measure.
"As I have been saying for years, it is past time that we do away with the harmful, draconian sequester cuts. We must also ensure that there are equal defense and non-defense increases," he said.
The budget talks have also been linked to a long-term highway funding bill and a measure to renew the Export-Import Bank, but a congressional aide said those measures were not a part of the final deal.
The aide also said the package would not prevent federal funding for Planned Parenthood, something sought by Republicans.
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