Orangutan loses out on more promises...

Budget deal reached in Congress

The agreement would avoid a government shutdown.

By BURGESS EVERETT , JOHN BRESNAHAN and SARAH FERRIS

Congressional leaders have reached a deal on a more than $1 trillion spending bill that would fund the government at updated levels through the end of September.

The bipartisan deal agreement struck Sunday night would increase defense spending and provide $1.5 billion in new border security spending aimed at repairing existing infrastructure and increasing technology, though it would not allocate any new money to a Southern border wall with Mexico despite the president's insistence. Congress will provide $15 billion in supplemental funding requested by President Donald Trump to fight terrorism, though $2.5 billion of that is contingent on the White House presenting Congress with a plan to fight the Islamic State.

The bill clocks in at more than 1,600 pages and Congress must pass it before Friday evening to avert a shutdown, though the bill is likely to pass easily because it contains key boosts to defense and domestic programs viewed by leaders in both parties as vastly preferable to another stopgap solution. House Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) said it is "the result of over a year’s worth of careful and dedicated efforts to closely examine federal programs to make the best possible use of every tax dollar."

“This agreement is a good agreement for the American people, and takes the threat of a government shutdown off the table. The bill ensures taxpayer dollars aren’t used to fund an ineffective border wall, excludes poison pill riders, and increases investments in programs that the middle-class relies on, like medical research, education, and infrastructure," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

The legislation will permanently extend expiring health insurance benefits to coal miners, a major priority of senators from Appalachia. It provides $2 billion in new spending for the National Institutes of Health, including a down payment on former President Barack Obama's cancer moon-shot.

Under the plan, Congress would also deliver $8.1 billion in emergency and disaster relief funding, including money to aid California, West Virginia, Louisiana and North Carolina and fight fires in the West, as well as new investments in fighting the opioid epidemic.

Congress was forced to pass a stopgap, week-long funding measure last Friday to avoid a government shutdown as the two parties sparred over the GOP's attempts to repeal Obamacare, as well as Puerto Rico's beleaguered Medicaid system.

The legislation delivers wins to both parties, though Republicans and Democrats also had to compromise on some key issues. The Trump administration had demanded that the bill include a down payment on a physical barrier along the Southern border, as well as a rider blocking sanctuary cities from getting new grant funding. The White House received neither though did garner significant new investments in border security.

Trump insists now he will still get his wall built imminently and will seek money for the structure in the new spending bill this fall. Democrats say it will be no easier for him get his funding then.

Democrats were seeking a permanent commitment to funding Obamacare's subsidies for low-income Americans' insurance as well as more money to fill Puerto Rico's Medicaid coffers. Instead the Trump administration is only indefinitely funding the Obamacare subsidies, and Puerto Rico's Medicaid solution mostly relies on redistributing existing accounts.

Democrats also fended off riders they view as anti-environmental and anti-abortion.