House And Senate Negotiators Strike Deal To Avoid Shutdown Threat

House and Senate negotiators have agreed to a plan to avoid a shutdown fight weeks before the midterm elections in November.

Members of the House and Senate Appropriations committees announced Thursday that they had a deal on a major funding package for the Defense and the Health and Human Services departments along with a short-term spending bill to fund agencies covered in separate legislation they are still negotiating. The funding would extend through Dec. 7. Both chambers are expected to vote on the measure before the Sept. 30 deadline to avoid a partial government shutdown.

If approved, the agreement would postpone the debate over money for President Trump’s border wall until December, when a lame-duck Congress will be in place. House and Senate leaders worked closely with spending negotiators on the package, but the White House has not said whether Trump supports the bill.