Congress Appears to Agree on Spending Bill

Maybe it’s the holiday spirit, but the US Congress appears to have agreed on a spending bill to keep the US government running until the end of next year, according to CNBC. The bill is expected to be published today.

The deal, if passed, would avoid another government shutdown like the one the country endured at the end of last summer. That fiasco cost the US its ‘AAA’ bond rating, and legislators apparently don’t want to risk another review as the 2012 elections approach.

There are still a couple of open items that need to be ironed out. These aren’t deal breakers or game changers but are still important issues,” said a Democratic spokesman for the appropriations committee in the House of Representatives.

A Republican aide said the group had a bipartisan, bicameral agreement in place on the entire spending package though noted that they still had to “make sure all our Is are dotted and our Ts are crossed.”

The spending bill must be approved by both the House and the Senate before it becomes law.