On the eve of another looming deadline, Senate Republicans and Democrats have reached a broad budget deal which, if passed by both chambers of US Congress on Thursday, will avert the grim prospect of Government shutdown for two years.
The rare bipartisan compromise reached by the two sides will raise spending on military and domestic programmes by another $300 billion and lead the Government — a sore point with conservative Republicans and it remained to be seen how they vote. And “far left” Democrats are unhappy that the deal does not guarantee a vote on immigration legislation to protect lakhs of young, illegal immigrants.
The White House welcomed the deal as it achieves the top priority of defence funding by ending the sequester cuts from the Obama era and provides certainty for the next two years. The Bill also increases the debt ceiling till March 2019 and moves away from crisis-to-crisis budgeting, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters.
Under the agreement, negotiated by Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schmer, defence spending will receive another $165 billion. Non-military domestic programmes, such as health, infrastructure and disaster relief, will get $131 billion more.
Following the deal, fiscal conservatives dread the prospect of the United States crossing the $1 trillion deficit level much earlier than 2022. A new estimate by the nonpartisan “Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget” says the forbidding threshold could be crossed as early as next year.
“The compromise we’ve reached will ensure for the first time in years our armed forces will have more of the resources they need to keep them safe,” McConnell said as he announced the deal on the Senate floor. “And it will ensure funding for important efforts such as disaster relief, infrastructure, and building on our work to fight opioid abuse and drug addiction.”
Alive to the possibility that fiscal hawks within his own party could oppose the measure, McConnell said,
“No one would suggest it is perfect. But we worked hard to find common ground and stay focused on serving the American people.”
Highlighting the point that the deal will end the “sequestration cuts that have hamstrung our armed forces and jeopardized our national security”, he also pointed out that the agreement would clear the way for new investment in our nation’s infrastructure.
On the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) issue, McConnell said the upcoming debate on Dreamers’, border security and other issues would be a process that is fair to all sides and allow for consideration and voting on alternate proposals.
Democratic leader Schumer, dwelling on the compromise nature of the agreement, said: “The budget deal doesn’t have everything Democrats want; it doesn’t have everything the Republicans want, but it has what the American people need. It shows that bipartisanship still lives in Washington and that both parties can work together to address the issues affecting our nation.”
In the House of Representatives, however, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said she would oppose the deal unless Speaker Paul Ryan follows Senator McConnell in giving a similar commitment to take up immigration legislation.
Pelosi, who created a House record on Wednesday with a floor address lasting over eight hours by focusing entirely on the Dreamers’ issue, said the Senate package “does nothing to advance bipartisan legislation to protect Dreamers in the House”.