(Image source: Wikimedia Commons )


BY CHRISTIANA BRYMAN


It’s six months of auto-pilot for the federal government after the top Democrat in the Senate and top Republican in the House agreed on a stopgap funding measure. Business News Network and WTTG have the headline.

“Speaking to reporters in Washington, Senator Reid said the $1 trillion plan will fund the US government through March of next year. Congress is expected to vote on the proposal in September.”

“...Aimed at averting any chance of a government shutdown this fall. The legislation will pass this September.”

The deal, struck with Republican House Speaker John Boehner, comes only two months before the previous September 30 deadline: One day before the 2013 fiscal year begins. It means current spending levels will be embraced in the short-term for federal agencies like the Pentagon. The Washington Post’s Rosalind Helderman says Republicans aren’t likely to be happy with that fact, but then again, she suggests  they’re biding time.

“They are hoping to win the White House and control of the Senate in November and to then use their new power to more dramatically reshape the budget.”

But CNN’s Dana Bash points out, technically, reaching a deal — even temporarily — politically benefits both sides. After all, it is the job of Congress to fund the government. She notes, the last time Congress funded the government without a stopgap is way back in 1997.

“Both sides want to avoid a prospect of a shutdown because it's really a jump ball politically who it would help or hurt. Neither wants to take that risk so close to election day... Everyone realizes they will have a lot on their plate between now and the election.”

Critics of current spending levels though, point out in the meantime, no one’s addressing the debt problem. On the conservative blog Hot Air , Erika Johnsen skeptically writes...

“... elections are first and foremost on everybody’s minds. So, we’ll just kick the can down the road for six months, just this once more, and rack up another half-a-trillion dollars in debt in the meantime. No big.”

In a statement, House Speaker John Boehner says lawmakers will write the legislation during the August recess so it can be passed in September.