Big Budget Deal in Senate Hailed as “Genuine Breakthrough”

White House praises Senate budget deal

WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House is praising a Senate budget agreement, saying it meets the administration’s priorities on defense spending and providing a two-year budget plan.  White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the deal will provide “certainty” for the next two years and achieves a “much needed” increase in funding for the national defense. The deal was also praised by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

Sanders says it will move the White House away from “crisis to crisis budgeting.”

The Senate agreement on a two-year, nearly $400 billion budget deal would provide Pentagon and domestic programs with huge spending increases. It would contain almost $300 billion over current limits on defense and domestic accounts.

However, it would not resolve the plight of immigrant “Dreamers” who face deportation after being brought to the U.S. illegally as children. As the Senate leaders were announcing their agreement, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California was holding the floor in the House, declaring she would oppose the measure unless her chamber’s GOP leaders promised a vote on legislation to protect the younger immigrants.

That introduced doubts as to whether the plan could pass in House, where prominent GOP conservatives are also opposed to the higher spending.