Speaker Johnson announces top-line spending deal to avoid government shutdown

Congressional leaders reached a $1.66 trillion agreement Sunday to finance the federal government in 2024, preserving funding for key domestic and social safety net programs in the face of GOP demands to cut the government’s budget. Now lawmakers are up against a stiff deadline to pass legislation to codify the deal and avert a partial government shutdown. Funding runs out for roughly 20 percent of the government — including for essential programs such as some veterans assistance, and food and drug safety services — on Jan. 19, and money for the rest of the government runs out shortly after that, on Feb. 2. The Speaker, though, touted that the spending deal “results in an overall $30 billion total reduction from the Senate’s spending plans.” Johnson said that there will be an additional $10 billion in cuts to the IRS mandatory funding, bringing the total to $20 billion, and that $6.1 billion will be cut from “the Biden’s Administration’s continued COVID-era slush funds”