Negotiators reach 'breakthrough' in government funding talks
By Alexander Bolton - 02/09/22 12:13 PM EST
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the senior Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced Wednesday that negotiators have reached “a breakthrough” agreement on the framework for an omnibus spending package that he predicts will help the two sides agree to the spending toplines very soon.
“We have reached an agreement on framework,” Shelby told The Hill shortly before noon on Thursday.
He said the top-line spending numbers for defense and non-defense discretionary programs, which have been a major sticking point in the talks, “will come from that” framework.
He called the development “big.”
Shelby later confirmed the breakthrough development in talks with Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Rep. Kay Granger (Texas), the ranking Republican on the House panel.
“We have reached an understanding on the framework, which lets us go to the next step,” he told a group of reporters in the Senate subway. “I believe this is a breakthrough in a bipartisan way.”
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https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/593502-negotiators-reach-breakthrough-in-government-funding-talks
