budget deal restores some cuts

WASHINGTON >> Shedding gridlock, key members of Congress reached a modest budget agreement today to restore about $63 billion in automatic spending cuts from programs ranging from parks to the Pentagon.

The spending increases would be offset by a variety of increased fees and other provisions elsewhere in the budget totaling about $85 billion over a decade, leaving enough for a largely symbolic cut of about $23 billion in the nation's debt, now $17 trillion and growing.

Federal workers, retired members of the military under age 62, airline travelers and health care providers who treat Medicare patients would bear much of the cost.

The budget deal was one of a few major measures left on Congress' to-do list near the end of a bruising year that has produced a partial government shutdown, a flirtation with a first-ever federal default and gridlock on President Barack Obama's agenda.

In a blow to Democrats, the agreement announced by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., omitted an extension of benefits for workers unemployed longer than 26 weeks. The program expires on Dec. 28, when payments will be cut off for an estimated 1.3 million individuals.

Aides predicted bipartisan approval in both houses in the next several days, despite grumbling from liberals over the omission of the unemployment extension and even though tea party-aligned groups are pushing Republican conservatives to oppose the deal.

The White House quickly issued a statement from Obama praising the deal as a "good first step." He urged lawmakers to both parties to follow up and "actually pass a budget based on this agreement so I can sign it into law and our economy can continue growing and creating jobs without more Washington headwinds."

The deal "reduces the deficit by $23 billion and it does not raise taxes. It cuts spending in a smarter way" than the ones in effect, said Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican who chairs the House Budget Committee.

Murray said the agreement "breaks through the recent dysfunction to prevent another government shutdown and roll back sequestration's cuts to defense and domestic investments in a balanced way." Sequestration is Washington budget-speak for across-the-board cuts.

"It's a good step in the right direction that can hopefully rebuild some trust and serve as a foundation for continued bipartisan work," Murray said.