Senate Deal Reached, Cruz Won't Block
NBC News reports:
Senate leaders said Wednesday that they had reached an agreement to end a protracted government shutdown and avert default on the national debt. "The compromise we reached will provide our economy with the stability it desperately needs," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said shortly after noon on the Senate floor. Congress will now attempt to quickly advance the legislation throughout the day in hopes of avoiding default on the national debt. Senate leaders jump-started negotiations over a compromise bill to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling late Tuesday after House Republicans’ efforts to pass their own alternative crumbled in embarrassing fashion for GOP leaders. House aides suggested that the House could work to bring up an agreement as blessed by the Senate leadership, which House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, would pass with both Democratic and Republican votes. That move represents a concession for Boehner. Throughout the past month’s fiscal showdown, he has insisted on advancing legislation with only Republican votes – often forcing him to draft deeply conservative legislation that had no chance of passage in the Democratic-controlled Senate.