In wake of budget deal, Congress slices up trillion-dollar pie

By way of Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) – As Washington empties out for the vacations, a final price range battle will play out within the just about empty Capitol building as congressional staffers parcel out more than $1 trillion to fund the whole thing from cybersecurity to pupil loans. Unlike the knock-down price range battles that paralyzed government for a lot of the 12 months, this debate will mostly happen inside what one lobbyist calls a "cone of silence" with Republicans and Democrats aiming to minimize discord as they race to set spending ranges for hundreds of individual government programs. It's a possibility for Congress to exhibit that it’s capable of doing its job after two years wherein lawmakers let the federal government run on computerized pilot once they weren't shutting it down or imposing indiscriminate spending cuts. There may be best so much they can do to persuade the process as lawmakers retreat into their chambers to write down the complicated spending law.