Congressional leaders and President Donald Trump on Thursday came to a “tentative agreement†to increase defense spending as part of a budget package, The Hill reported Thursday.A White House official said Trump and congressional leaders were also in talks to reach an agreement on nondefense spending.
A source familiar with the meeting told the publication Democrats would allow defense programs to be funded at $54 billion for fiscal 2018 provided that nondefense initiatives would be backed with the same level of funding.
“The president had a constructive meeting with congressional leadership and Defense Secretary [James] Mattis, and the parties agreed on the need for eliminating the defense sequester to deal with the grave national security threats we face,â€Â Sarah Huckabee Sanders, White House press secretary, said in a statement.
Sanders added that negotiations on a long-term budget package would resume Friday.
Nextgov also reported that Congress passed Thursday another continuing resolution that would fund the government at current spending levels through Dec. 22.
The House voted 235-193 and the upper chamber voted 81-14 to approve a stopgap funding measure in an effort to avert a government shutdown and provide lawmakers more time to finalize the fiscal 2018 appropriations bill and raise the budget caps.
The Senate’s measure would authorize the Children’s Health Insurance Program through the end of 2017, the report added.
