Budget deal averts US federal shutdown

Republicans and Democrats reach an agreement to keep government institutions running.

Barack Obama, the US president, and congressional leaders have reached a last-minute budget deal, averting a government shutdown, Republican lawmakers said. John Boehner, the House of Representatives Speaker, said on Friday that a deal had been struck on funding the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year that ends on September 30. "I am pleased Senator [Harry Reid] and I and the White House have been able to come to an agreement that will in fact cut spending and keep our government open," Boehner told reporters. With a midnight deadline looming for a government closure, the compromise between Obama's Democrats and opposition Republicans requires lawmakers to approve stopgap funding to keep federal agencies running into next week until the budget agreement can be formally enacted. Republican Congressman Devin Nunes told Reuters that "the deal" - a plan for $39bn in spending cuts – was presented to House Republicans at a closed-door meeting and that most members would vote for it. There was no immediate comment from the White House or congressional Democrats.

Source: Reuters