US President Donald Trump announced Monday afternoon that a deal had been arrived at with congressional leaders to set new budget and debt ceiling levels for the next two years, “with no poison pills.”
“I am pleased to announce that a deal has been struck with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy – on a two-year Budget and Debt Ceiling, with no poison pills,” Trump tweeted Monday afternoon. “This was a real compromise in order to give another big victory to our Great Military and Vets!”
According to the Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter, the deal will increase spending by roughly $320 billion above the limits set by the 2011 Budget Control Act – that's $30 billion less than the Democrats wanted but only half the $150 billion in savings Trump hoped for. Nearly $80 billion of that spending will be offset by cuts in other areas.
If passed, the deal will ensure the government doesn't miss debt payments in early September and would cancel automatic cuts that would have reduced domestic spending by $55 billion and military spending by $71 billion, compared to the 2019 budget, Bloomberg noted.
The deal, which was agreed to by Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, is only an agreement to move forward on the relevant bills. The Democrat-controlled House will need to…
