Lawmakers Strike Budget Deal to Avoid Shutdown

With time running short, Republicans and Democrats agreed today on a $1.1 trillion spending bill to avoid a government shutdown and delay a fight over President Obama's new immigration policy until the new year. The government will run out of money at midnight Thursday without a new deal in place. Both the House and the Senate are expected to pass the measure before then and get it to President Obama to avoid a shutdown. The big question was whether John Boehner could get enough votes to overcome Tea Party opposition, but officials expressed confidence it could now be done.

The compromise spending bill will permit virtually the entire government to operate normally through the Sept. 30 end of the fiscal year, with the exception of the Department of Homeland Security. Funds for that one agency will run out again in late winter. That will give Republicans an opportunity to try to use the expiration as leverage to force Obama to roll back a decision that will suspend the threat of deportation for an estimated 4 million immigrants living in the country illegally. (More government shutdown stories.)