Follow U.S. Investment Immigration and U.S. Economic news: Barbara Mikulski, Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations, stated on Monday that U.S. lawmakers have reached an agreement on a $1 trillion spending bill to avoid another U.S. government shutdown. This bill will keep the government operational at least until September 30.
The bill will increase spending for domestic and military programs in fiscal year 2014 by $45 billion, thereby partially alleviating the impact of across-the-board "sequestration" cuts.
Mikulski told reporters that the bill will cancel pension cuts for disabled veterans and does not include any provisions that would hinder the implementation of the "Affordable Care Act."
This spending bill fills in the details of the budget agreement passed in December. Previously, parts of the U.S. government faced a shutdown last October, primarily because the two parties could not reach an agreement on funding for the Affordable Care Act.
If Congress does not reach a new spending agreement by midnight Wednesday, a government shutdown will once again become a reality.
During these negotiations, lawmakers were initially divided over issues such as abortion and carbon emissions, but a broad consensus was ultimately reached.
