White House, congressional leaders reach debt-limit deal

President Obama and congressional leaders sealed a deal to raise the federal debt limit late Sunday that includes sharp spending cuts but no new taxes, breaking a partisan impasse that has driven the nation to the brink of a potentially disastrous government default.

The deal, negotiated primarily by Vice President Joseph Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), teetered all day on the edge of completion, as House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) bickered with Democrats over whether to freeze next year’s defense budget.

In the end, Boehner conceded the point, and President Obama finalized the agreement in phone calls to each of the four congressional leaders shortly after 8 p.m. If all goes as planned, the package could clear the Senate and then the House as soon as Monday night — barely 24 hours before Treasury officials have said they could run short of cash to pay the nation’s bills.

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