Congress reaches deal on $1.3T budget

Tentative deal comes two days before federal funding deadline

WASHINGTON — House and Senate negotiators reached tentative agreement Wednesday on a $1.3-trillion bill that would boost defense and domestic spending, but at the same time put off solutions to other contentious issues.

The announcement of the deal late Wednesday came two days before the federal government would have been forced to shut down. The House and Senate now face a narrow opening to approve the 2,232page measure by Friday.

The appropriations bill stemmed from a February deal in which leaders agreed to add tens of billions of dollars to defense and nondefense spending over the next two years. The new spending levels, if approved by both chambers, will begin Friday and extend through September.

Republicans pushed the bill as a way of boosting defense spending to make up for cutbacks under budget deals formed during the Obama administration.

“We made a promise to the country that we would rebuild our military,” House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Tuesday. “We can’t keep asking our service members to go above and beyond when we are leaving them under-armed and under-prepared.”

Democrats, meanwhile, heralded increases in domestic spending. Those allowances for education, housing, opioid addiction efforts and other federal programs were prompted by the need for Democratic votes to offset expected opposition by fiscal conservatives.

“Every bill takes compromise, and there was plenty here, but at the end of the day we Democrats feel very good because so many of our priorities for the middle class were included,” Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said. “From opioid funding to rural broadband, and from student loans to child care, this bill puts workers and families first.”

The deal was initially expected to be announced no later than Monday night, but was delayed because of disagreements over immigration, health care, abortion rights and a long-stalled effort to strengthen the background check system used by many gun purchasers.

On Wednesday afternoon, Ryan left the capitol to travel to the White House, where President Donald Trump was said to be waffling over whether to back the deal.

Afterward the White House issued a statement of support.

“The president had a discussion with Speaker Ryan and Leader McConnell, where they talked about their shared priorities secured in the omnibus spending bill. The president and the leaders discussed their support for the bill, which includes more funds to rebuild the military, such as the largest pay raise for our troops in a decade, more than 100 miles of new construction for the border wall and other key domestic priorities, like combating the opioid crisis and rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure.”

Despite press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ words, the immigration and border component of the spending bill fell far short of what Trump had promised voters en route to the presidency. It appeared to sign off on less than $2 billion in border security funding — much of it restricted and in any case, below Trump’s $25-billion request.