US Senate leaders announce deal to end debt crisis, shutdown

WASHINGTON (ICIS)–Senate leaders said on Wednesday that they have reached agreement on legislation that will raise the US debt ceiling limit until early February and fund federal government spending through mid-January and end the shutdown.

Senate majority leader Harry Reid (Democrat-Nevada) and Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said on the Senate floor that they had reached a deal to end the weeks-long crisis that had threatened default by the US government.

Reid said the bill restores spending authority to the federal government until 15 January and raises the debt ceiling limit to a level that will allow federal borrowing until 7 February.

Significantly, Reid said that the measure agreed with McConnell reflects compromises by both Republicans and Democrats to produce a bill that can be passed by both the Democrat-majority Senate and the Republican-majority House and also be acceptable to President Barack Obama.

Reid also said the bill provides for formation of a special Senate and House budget conference committee that will work over the next several months to find a long-term plan for federal government fiscal balance.

The Senate is expected to vote on the bill sometime on Wednesday. The measure then will be handed on to the House, where a vote there also is expected before the end of the day.

Once approved by both chambers, the bill will be sent to the White House, where Obama is expected to sign it before the US debt limit authority expires at midnight Eastern time Wednesday.

Paul Hodges studies key influences shaping the chemical industry in Chemicals and the Economy