The Federal Government's Saving Its Shut-Downs for After the Election
Good news: The federal government came to a spending agreement Tuesday, most likely avoiding a shut-down long before most of us started seriously started stressing about it. President Obama, Speaker John Boehner, and Senator Harry Reid reached an agreement to keep funding at current levels for six months after the end of the fiscal year in September.
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If you're wondering why everyone's getting along, it seems the nearing election might, unexpectedly, have something to do with it. Republicans concerned with spending levels "would rather punt the issue into next year, hoping Mitt Romney will be in the White House," as Politico's Manu Raju notes. This agreement does need to pass through both chambers before we cue up the "Kumbaya." As National Journal's Katy O'Donnell notes, that probably won't happen before the August recess.
