Treasury Secretary: Agreement near on key elements of budget deal

The Trump administration and congressional leaders are close to an agreement on overall spending levels in a two-year deal to raise the budget caps, as well as a two-year debt limit increase, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said this morning on CNBC. “We’re now discussing offsets as well as certain structural issues, and we’ve agreed as a part of that deal there would be a long-term two-year debt ceiling increase,” he said. The deal would increase the debt limit to avert a default on U.S. payments. It also would set overall spending limits and prevent automatic spending cuts for defense and domestic agencies in January. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., today told reporters that conversations with the administration are continuing, and if they want to address the issue before the August recess, “we have to come to a conclusion pretty soon.”