Congress, White House close to releasing two-year budget agreement
Congressional leaders and the White House are close to releasing an agreement that would lift the debt ceiling until early 2017 and increase spending caps for the next two fiscal years, according to multiple sources familiar with the negotiations.
Several sources confirmed to CBS News that the deal could be released as soon as Monday evening.
The deal would lift spending levels, imposed by a 2011 fiscal deal, for both the Pentagon and domestic programs for the next two fiscal years, a source in the House confirmed. That portion of the agreement would also address an issue with Medicare Part B by protecting millions of seniors from significant increases to their deductibles and premiums.
According to that source, the deal would raise the debt ceiling until sometime around March 2017 with no strings attached. Lawmakers have until Nov. 3 -- next Tuesday -- to handle it or risk a default.
The source cautioned that there is no final deal yet, which White House spokeswoman Josh Earnest also told reporters at the press briefing on Monday afternoon.
"Not everything has been agreed to [and] that means nothing has been agreed to," Earnest said.
The emerging agreement is a product of bipartisan negotiations with the White House that began on Sept. 17, the source added. Another source said that the House, Senate and White House worked through the weekend and are close to finalizing the agreement.
If the parties can agree, it would mean the debt ceiling and budget would not be unwelcome distractions during the 2016 campaign, which both parties would likely welcome. And it's also likely that a substantial majority of Democrats in the House will be required to pass the measure.
Another congressional aide said the deal does not include a reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank's charter, which expired in June, but a reauthorization is already moving in a separate package in the House.
The deal would increase spending levels by $50 billion for the rest of the current fiscal year and by $30 billion in 2017.
The spending increases would be offset by eliminating auto-enrollment for ObamaCare and by eliminating the Single Decisionmaker program for the Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund program, which allows disability examiners to make determinations about benefits without a medical consultant's signature.
Speaker Boehner, R-Ohio, has been intent on reaching a new budget deal and raising the debt ceiling before he leaves his leadership post and congressional seat this Thursday. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, is expected to be elected as the next House speaker this week.
Ryan negotiated the last budget compromise in December 2013 with Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, when they both served as chairmen of the House and Senate Budget Committees, respectively. That deal expired last month.
House GOP leaders are expected to meet Monday afternoon for their weekly meeting and the GOP conference will huddle behind closed doors at a special meeting Monday evening.
For months, the White House and Democrats have called on Republicans to hold negotiations over the spending caps for the next two fiscal years. President Obama has made clear that he would only sign legislation that would provide equal spending increases to both the military and domestic programs.
In his budget for example, he called on Congress to increase discretionary spending for 2016 by $37 billion on each side for a total of $74 billion more.
Obama and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew have also reiterated that the administration would only accept a "clean" debt ceiling increase.
The budget deal would likely lay the groundwork for the government spending package that Congress will have to pass by Dec. 11 to fund the government through next September.
