Senate leaders announced Wednesday they have reached a budget deal to increase spending on defense and social programs by hundreds of billions of dollars, clearing the way for the Senate to pass a short-term spending bill that would avert a shutdown and fund the government through March. Congress has been unable to reach a budget agreement this year because there was no consensus on total spending levels. It is still not clear whether the House will approve the Senate's two-year plan. Conservatives in the House are concerned about the billions of dollars in extra domestic spending and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said she will not back it because it does nothing to protect undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.
