Government Shutdown Averted - For Now

WASHINGTON — Perilously close to a midnight deadline, the White House and congressional leaders reached agreement to cut billions of dollars in spending to avoid the first government shutdown in 15 years.

"We have agreed to an historic amount of cuts for the remainder of this fiscal year, as well as a short-term bridge that will give us time to avoid a shutdown while we get that agreement through both houses and to the president," GOP House Speaker John Boehner and Democratic Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said in a joint statement late Friday.

"We will cut $78.5 billion below the president's 2011 budget proposal, and we have reached an agreement on the policy riders. In the meantime, we will pass a short-term resolution to keep the government running through Thursday. That short-term bridge will cut the first $2 billion of the total savings."

In remarks at the White House less than an hour before the midnight deadline, President Barack Obama said: "Tomorrow I'm pleased to announce that the Washington Monument, as well as the entire federal government, will be open for business and that's because today Americans of different beliefs came together again."

Obama praised both parties for coming together to agree on a budget that would make "the largest annual spending cut" in American history, while preserving his priorities.

The deal will cut billions of dollars in spending through Sept. 30, the end of the budget year.

The House and Senate were to rush through a stopgap bill until the broader bill could be finalized and voted on next week.

It appeared that negotiators were prepared to put the fight over federal funding of Planned Parenthood aside for the moment.

Assistant Senate Democratic Leader Richard Durbin said earlier a dispute over federal funding for family planning agencies, which has proven to be the biggest and last stumbling block, had been resolved.

One source told NBC News that the issue was no longer on the table.

Congressional sources told National Journal that the outline of the spending deal includes up to $39 billion in cuts from the 2010 budget, $514 billion for the defense budget covering the remainder of this fiscal year, a GOP agreement to abandon policy riders dealing with Planned Parenthood and the Environmental Protection Agency, and an agreement to pass legislation Friday night to keep the government running while the deal is written in bill form.

Friday's developments unfolded as the administration readied hundreds of thousands of furlough notices for government workers and warned that federal services from national parks to tax-season help centers would be shuttered without a deal by midnight.

"We know the whole world is watching us today," said Reid, D-Nev., during a day that featured incendiary, campaign-style rhetoric as well as intense negotiation.

© 2011 msnbc.com

Comment:

Too bad. I was hoping a shutdown would really wake people up. Maybe next time.

One thing that has not been mentioned: How much are they cutting from Social Security and Medicare. My folks can't afford any more cuts, and neither can the majority of the elderly.

This is what galls me. You work and slave all your life and your reward is to be left high and dry by the very government you foolishly trusted. Maybe they've left Social Security alone - this time. All we can do is wait until next week to find out.

National Socialism values the elderly, and rewards them for a job well done. It does NOT punish people for growing old. Our elderly have earned their retirement. They are NOT a burden.