Free Republic

Congressional leaders in the House and Senate have reached a deal on a spate of appropriations bills, clearing the way for a short-term spending patch that would extend funding deadlines further into March. Appropriators finalized the agreement on Wednesday, two sources told the Washington Examiner, just three days before the government is set to enter a partial shutdown. The proposal would maintain the two-pronged deadlines Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has advocated but would extend the dates slightly to give lawmakers time to finalize the legislative text and bring them to the floor for votes. “We are in agreement that Congress...

President Obama on Friday will sign a two-month extension of highway funding into law, the White House said. The measure prevents a sudden halt in infrastructure funding that was slated to begin May 31. But White House press secretary Josh Earnest criticized the stopgap bill as a punt and urged Congress to pass a long-term measure to fund road projects. “It’s the president’s view that the era of short-term patches ... must come to an end,” Earnest told reporters. Earnest noted it was the 33rd temporary fix for highway funding since 2008. The uncertainty caused by that approach has led...

GENEVA (AP) — The United States and Iran are working on a two-phase deal that clamps down on Tehran's nuclear program for at least a decade before providing it leeway over the remainder of the agreement to slowly ramp up activities that could be used to make weapons.

Brussels- European leaders agreed on Friday to extend Greece's bailout for four months after weeks of terse negotiations.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is backing calls by the EU commission to boost the funds of the European Investment Bank (EIB), a move meant to show that leaders are putting their money where their mouth is in terms of growth. As leaders are increasingly shifting their focus from austerity to growth-boosting measures, older plans tabled by the EU commission in the past few years are being revived. Boosting the lending capacity of the Luxembourg-based EIB is one of those ideas. Merkel over the weekend told Leipziger Volkszeitung she "can imagine that we further strengthen the capabilities of the European Investment...