Congress Reaches Deal to Avoid 2016 Shutdown

Congressional leaders have reached a deal that will let them go home for the holidays and avoid spending most of 2016 squabbling about government shutdowns. House Speaker Paul Ryan told GOP lawmakers on Tuesday night that a $1.1 trillion omnibus funding bill that will keep the government running until October next year has been agreed on, reports the Hill. Under the "three-day" rule, lawmakers will have time to review the 2,009-page text before a vote takes place on Thursday or Friday. The government's spending authority expires Wednesday, and lawmakers are expected to pass a stopgap spending bill that will give them until Dec. 22 to vote on the new package, the Washington Post reports.

The bill—which includes a $650 billion package extending numerous tax credits—meets some key Republican demands, including the lifting of the 40-year-old ban on crude oil exports and the suspension of some taxes linked to ObamaCare, while the Democratic wins include five-year extensions of wind and solar credits, the AP reports. An agreement to reauthorize health benefits for 9/11 first responders made it into the deal, and restrictions on Syrian refugees didn't. "A lot of us feel like we didn't get things we wanted, but we got some stuff that we did want, and I think that's going to be true on both sides," says GOP Rep. John Kline, per the Post. "We need to move past this, get this done, let's put 2015 behind us and get on to 2016." (More Paul Ryan stories.)