Already last weekend, the parties agreed on a spending cap for 2024 of $1659 billion, but the risk of a shutdown remained high as all details had to be hammered out before January 19.
Now, the deadline is postponed to March 1 or March 8, depending on which parts of the state apparatus are involved – provided that both houses of Congress approve the agreement by January 19.
In the House of Representatives, parts of the Republican group will probably vote no, writes The Hill. Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson will need the support of Democrats to push the deal through.
Opponents in his own party have tried this week to get Johnson to back down from the deal on the spending cap, but he has stuck to it.
They have also advocated a much longer extension of the budgetary deadline, beyond 30 April. The idea is to pressure Democrats into more far-reaching concessions, but some also hope that an automatic savings law will be triggered.
If no regular budget is approved before 1 May, defence spending must be reduced by 1 per cent and other expenditure by 5 per cent.