WHY IT'S IMPORTANT
The agreement is the necessary next step after Republican House
Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck
Schumer agreed earlier in the year on a $1.59 trillion
discretionary spending level for the fiscal year that began on
Oct. 1.
Congress will eventually have to pass the 12 bills to fund the
government and avert a partial shutdown of federal agencies that
would otherwise begin on March 1.
KEY QUOTES
“We’re on it. We're going to continue to focus on that until we
get them done,” said Republican Representative Dave Joyce, who
chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland
Security.
“We don't have a lot of time. And there's going to be a lot of
really, really contentious issues,” said Republican
Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, who chairs the House
Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and
Related Programs.
CONTEXT
Congress earlier this month passed a third stopgap funding bill
to keep the federal government open through a pair of deadlines
on March 1 and March 8.
The United States' $34.4 trillion national debt is rapidly
escalating and has prompted worries in part because of the heavy
interest payments now being borne by the Treasury Department.
(Reporting by David Morgan in WashingtonEditing by Scott Malone
and Matthew Lewis)
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