WASHINGTON — Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle reached an agreement on a two-year budget Tuesday night to boost spending and roll back $63 billion in planned cuts that were set to reduce government programs.
House budget chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and his Senate counterpart, Patty Murray (D-Wash.), reached a deal that could clear both chambers this week — heading off another government shutdown — in an unusual agreement in today’s dysfunctional Capitol.
The deal would produce $85 billion in new spending funds over a decade through reductions in government pensions and other programs, plus new federal fees, including one that would boost the typical round-trip airline ticket by $5.
The nation’s $17 trillion debt would be reduced by just $23 billion.
“The deficit will go down more by passing this than if we did nothing,” Ryan told reporters, saying the compromise upheld conservative principles by not raising taxes.
Murray complained that the agreement wouldn’t eliminate any tax loopholes, but said it was proof the government “can now stop lurching from crisis to crisis.”
Democrats also failed to include an extension of unemployment benefits for those out of work for more than 26 weeks. The program expires Dec. 28, when more than a million workers will see their benefits cut off.
If the House and Senate pass the budget framework, spending for the next fiscal year would be set at $1.012 trillion and $1.13 trillion for 2015.
Some House conservatives have already been grumbling about the emerging plan, and the House GOP caucus plans to meet Wednesday morning on it.
The deal would do away with looming budget cuts in defense and discretionary spending.