http://thehill.com/policy/finance/258091-white-house-gop-near-two-year-budget-deal By Alexander Bolton - 10/26/15 12:35 PM EDT
Senior White House officials and congressional leaders are nearing a deal to raise the debt limit and set the federal budget for the next two years, say sources familiar with the talks.
The agreement is not yet final, as negotiators still need to settle a dispute over controversial policy riders, but congressional leaders hope to announce something Monday evening, according to a Senate source. The deal would cover the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years.
White House budget director Shaun Donovan and legislative affairs director Katie Beirne Fallon are hammering out the package with staff representing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.).
House Ways and Means Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is expected to be elected Speaker on Thursday, but he has not taken part in these budget negotiations, aides said. In recent weeks, Boehner has said he wants to "clean the barn up a little bit" before he leaves Congress at the end of the week.
Legislation to raise the debt ceiling and fund the government is central to the deal, but the talks are also said to include measures that would fund highway and infrastructure construction and renew the Export-Import Bank for one year.
“Hopefully we’re able to announce something this evening,” said the Senate source, who added the length of the agreement has yet to be finalized.
The Treasury Department has set a Nov. 3 deadline for raising the nation's $18.1 trillion debt limit.
Lawmakers also face a Dec. 11 deadline to fund the government.
Members have been battling over how to fund the government and provide relief from a separate 2011 deal that created budget ceilings known as the sequester. Republicans have pushed to end the sequester for the Defense Department, but President Obama and Democrats want to get rid of the caps for both defense and nondefense spending.
Highway funding must be renewed by the end of the week. The House and Senate have been working toward a bill that would provide six years of funding.
Authority for the Export-Import Bank expired this summer, and supporters in the House have backed a discharge petition that would force a vote on renewing the bank's charter. Ex-Im has support from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, but many conservatives oppose it.
McConnell has opposed a vote on a stand-alone Ex-Im reauthorization, but it could be possible to renew the bank as part of this broader measure.
The deal is also likely to prevent the double-digit premium hikes that would hit 8 million Medicare enrollees in 2016.
Averting the 52 percent premium increases has been a priority for Pelosi and could help win Democratic support for the package.
She began talks on the topic with Boehner in mid-September. Staving off the increases is expected to cost about $7.5 billion, and Democratic aides have said Pelosi's office was quietly negotiating with Boehner on the offsets.
House GOP appropriators said they are also hearing rumblings of the two-year budget deal. Top House Republicans were expected to discuss a possible spending package at their weekly leadership meeting Monday afternoon.
