Lawmakers reach tentative spending deal to avert government shutdown

Christal Hayes | USA TODAY

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WASHINGTON – Key House and Senate lawmakers say they have come to an agreement on government spending bills that will prevent a potential government shutdown.

The chairs of the House and Senate appropriations committees, Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., and Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., made the announcement Thursday afternoon as the House Judiciary Committee was debating two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, who will ultimately have to sign off on any spending deal.

The deal encompasses all 12 annual spending deals and was announced just hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Lawmakers did not detail exactly what was included in the $1.37 trillion bipartisan agreement, but a House vote is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday. Government funding will run out Dec. 20 at midnight.

The deal, if passed, would avoid another lengthy government shutdown. About a year ago, House Democrats and the White House failed to come to an agreement over spending for a wall along the southern U.S. border, which led to the longest-ever government shutdown. It lasted 35 days and ended only after Trump declared a national emergency that allowed him to reallocate money for the wall, which has been a central goal of his administration.