Leaders reach deal to avert government shutdown

The House and Senate leadership have reached an agreement to fund federal government activities to next March, averting the threat of a government shutdown until after the 6 November presidential and congressional elections.

The deal, reached on 31 July, would fund federal programmes—from medical research to education—at the annual rate of $1.05 trillion specified in last year’s debt limit deal. A White House statement welcomed the development and said the president would work with leaders in both parties to sign a bill to achieve it. The statement stressed no “ideological or extraneous policy riders” should be included.