Top congressional negotiators announced a tentative deal on $1.3 trillion in federal spending, likely averting government shutdown, the Washington Post reports.

The agreement in principle sets up votes next week.

“The U.S. government deficit spiked 12 percent to $342 billion during the first two months of fiscal year 2020, according to data from the Congressional Budget Office,” Fox Business reports.

“The CBO says the U.S. budget deficit will average $1.2 trillion a year from 2020 to 2029, amounting to 4.4 percent to 4.8 percent of gross domestic product.”

Politico: “Congressional negotiators are scrambling to reach a deal that would allow the House to vote on several spending bills this week, with just 11 days left to avert a shutdown.”

“The last-minute wrangling to bring long-delayed spending bills to the floor is an attempt to take care of some must-do work heading into next week, when Capitol Hill will be consumed with a likely House floor vote to impeach President Trump.”

CNN: “Congress is once again running right up to the brink of a government shutdown. There is cautious optimism, but still work to be done. Progress has been made but the largest outstanding issues still stand. Everyone involved wants an agreement, but those same lawmakers and administration officials are still haggling over issues — large and small.”

“Negotiators have about 24 to 48 hours to wrap up an agreement on all 12 spending bills to have any chance to move them in such a short time frame. This is very, very tight — and a short-term off-ramp will be needed if nothing comes together before Monday.”

“President Trump’s 2017 tax cuts reduced the U.S. tax burden to one of the lowest among major world economies,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“U.S. tax burdens dropped by the largest amount among those countries in 2018, and the U.S. now has lower taxes than all but three countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.”

Playbook: “We’re hearing murmurs out of the Hill and White House that there’s a chance President Trump will not sign any government funding bills until he knows how the DHS funding bills will be worked out — presumably to see how immigration policy/the wall is handled.”

“Why does this matter? Because the government shuts down in 17 days unless Congress acts. There was some plan to pass some non-controversial bills this month, and then deal with the more difficult items like Defense and DHS later on. But if the president is unwilling to sign any spending bill until he sees how DHS is worked out, that complicates this strategy. It could lead to a yearlong stopgap — which would preserve the president’s abilities to reprogram money for his wall, but cancel the planned $100 billion increase in spending. Or Congress could fall back on a series of short-term bills while the president fights.”

Politico: “White House budget hawks who have failed to rein in government spending in the Trump era might get a major win — by default.”

“Top Republicans and Democrats are fumbling in their attempts to clinch a deal to fund the government over the next year. The result could be a governmentwide spending freeze — exactly what Mick Mulvaney and the rest of President Donald Trump’s negotiating team sought months ago.”

“With no agreement in sight and impeachment captivating the Capitol, it’s increasingly likely Washington will be forced to accept another temporary funding bill in December. Lawmakers are already eyeing a monthslong stopgap to stave off a Christmastime shutdown. In the worst-case scenario, a full-year extension could follow.”

New York Times: “The specter of last year’s 35-day shutdown drove a slim bipartisan margin on Tuesday, as most lawmakers agreed that a temporary spending bill maintaining current levels of funding for another four weeks was preferable to an encore of the breach last year, which lasted into January.”

“Left unresolved, however, are the dozen must-pass bills that would maintain funding for the remainder of the fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1. Lawmakers on the traditionally bipartisan Appropriations Committees have failed to reach an agreement over funding Mr. Trump’s signature campaign promise to build a wall between the United States and Mexico — the same fraught debate that led to the nation’s longest government shutdown nearly a year ago.”

President Trump’s economic advisers are exploring whether the president should campaign for reelection proposing a 15% tax rate for the American middle class, with some seeing the idea as a simple way of selling Republicans’ economic agenda as not merely beneficial to the rich, the Washington Post reports.

Jonathan Bernstein: “Is it likely? It shouldn’t be. Remember, the first rule of extended shutdowns — anything more than, say, a long weekend — is that they only happen when one side wants it and has the votes. It’s incredibly easy to keep the government’s doors open; all it takes is a one-page bill changing the expiration date, which could get through Congress in an afternoon. So even if the two sides can’t immediately reach an agreement, they could always keep the money flowing while negotiations continue.”

“Plus, Republicans should’ve learned their lesson by now. In 1994, 2013 and last winter, they thought a shutdown would be to their advantage. All three times, it turned out to be a really poor idea that didn’t work at all as a negotiating tactic and didn’t give them a boost in public opinion. This suggests they’ll be reluctant to go along with the president if he wants another one. And he’d need their support: If a temporary measure passes with the backing of both parties, Trump might well block it only to have Congress override his veto.”

Playbook: “President Trump just made this month much more … interesting. Speaking on the South Lawn on Sunday, the president left the door open to a government shutdown in 17 days. First, he said ‘no, no, no’ when asked if he would shut down the government because he is being impeached. Then he said, ‘It depends on — it depends on what the negotiation — I wouldn’t commit to anything. It depends on what the negotiation is.'”

“The government shutdown date is Nov. 21 — Congress’ last day in session before the Thanksgiving break. Congress will revolt at the idea of a shutdown, and Democrats are never going to relent on impeachment because of a funding crisis. Some in the Capitol believe they can override the president’s veto of a spending bill. Needless to say, if the president is toying with a shutdown in his mind, this month might not be on autopilot as some may think.”

Politico: “It’s a nightmare scenario for Washington: a government shutdown smack in the middle of the House’s impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. And Chuck Schumer says he’s ‘increasingly worried’ that it might come to fruition.”

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) said he was growing more worried that President Trump could force a government shutdown as soon as next month over the impeachment fight, The Hill reports.

Said Schumer: “I’m increasingly worried that President Trump may want to shut down the government again because of impeachment, an impeachment inquiry. He always likes to create diversions.”

“The U.S. government’s budget deficit ballooned to nearly $1 trillion in 2019, a $205 billion increase from a year earlier, as America’s fiscal imbalance widened for a fourth consecutive year despite a sustained run of economic growth,” the Washington Post reports.

“The country’s worsening fiscal picture runs in sharp contrast to President Trump’s campaign promise to eliminate the federal debt within eight years. Since taking office, Trump has endorsed big spending increases and steered most Republicans to abandon the deficit obsession they held during the Obama administration.”