A U.S. government shutdown 2011 was averted at the last minute Friday night after the House and Senate reached a temporary spending agreement.
The measure, which will keep the government running until Thursday, postponed an impending furlough of some 800,000 federal workers.
Friday's "bridge" agreement calls for $39 billion in short-term spending cuts, and pushes off the contentious issue of abortion funding, which Republicans sought to block.
By Thursday, the House and Senate will schedule votes on a longer-term budget that will carry the government through Sept. 30, the end of the current fiscal year.
The news was greeted with a mixture of relief over a crisis averted, and frustration over continued wrangling that will spill into next week. And harsh rhetoric left its mark.
Throughout the afternoon leading up to the midnight deadline, Democrats said abortion funding was a crucial sticking point, as Republicans held fast to their demand to cut off Title 10 "women's health" programs. Roughly 25 percent of Title 10 funds go to Planned Parenthood, the nation's leading abortion provider.
One-third of Planned Parenthood's annual $1.1 billion budget comes from the taxpayers, and Democrats were equally determined to keep the money flowing. Both sides reportedly agreed to vote on the issue separately next week.
Earlier in the day, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., called the GOP position "extremist ideology" and accused Republicans of "pouting in the corner."
Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., was even more vitriolic.
Speaking at an abortion rally Thursday in Washington, D.C., Slaughter said, This is probably one of the worst times weve seen. ... In 94, people were elected simply to come here to kill the National Endowment for the Arts.Now theyre here to kill women.
Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., blasted Senate Democrats and President Barack Obama for "hypocritical games."
On Friday afternoon, Price, the House Republican Policy Committee chairman, assailed Democrats' opposition to passing a troop funding bill and agreeingto fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, said the blame for the protracted budget process lay "solely on the Democrats, who last year failed to write a budget and failed to pass one single appropriations bill."
Senate Democrats had refused to take up this week's House-passed stopgap bill that cut $12 billion in short-term spending and blocked the abortion funds.
Prior to the eleventh-hour agreement, Rep. Sandy Adams, R-Orlando, noted, "After failing to lead during the previous Congress and pass a budget, the same Democrats have once again shown that they are incapable of leading this country into anything other than astronomical debt.
"The House passed a long-term budget plan 48 days ago that would continue to fund the government at responsible budget levels, but Senate Democrats refuse to take action."
That GOP bill cut spending by $61 billion.
Earlier in the week, Democratic negotiators said they were willing to consider $38 billion in reductions over the same period -- just $1 blllion less than what was ultimately agreed to Friday night.
Either way, the figures were tiny in comparison to the budget deficit that is $1.6 trillion and growing.
Obama had complained that a budget agreement "could have gotten done three months ago."
But Republicans pointed out that Democrats previously controlled both houses of Congress and the White House, yet failed to even propose a budget for the current fiscal year.
THE ODD COUPLE: BACHMANN AND REID
Though much of the rhetoric in the final hours was as predictable as it was harsh, there were a few off-script surprises from the right.
Even as Democrats accused tea party groups of pushing House Speaker John Boehner into "extreme" positions, one congressional tea party favorite took a more moderate stance.
"I am ready for a big fight that will change the arc of history. The current fight in Washington is not that fight," Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., tweeted late Friday afternoon.
Earlier, Bachmann endorsed the idea of a "clean bill" that would delete the anti-abortion provision -- the same proposal made by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Another staunch conservative, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., made similar pleas to put the abortion fight off for another time.
But the Florida Alliance, a coalition of tea and patriot organizations, issued a scathing indictment of Democratic leadership as the clock ran down Friday evening:
"Sen. Harry Reid hypocritically claims that over $300 million is needed for Planned Parenthood, a private corporation, so women in his family can get 'womens health care.'We agree with Sen. John Kyl: 'Planned Parenthood doesn't need a gift from the American Taxpayers to continue to provide abortions.'"
Meantime, Sarah Palin whipped up the social-network crowd, tweeting: "If we can't fight to defund this nonsense now when we have the chance, do you think we'll win the big fight on entitlement reform later on?"
Nelson, who is up for re-election in 2012 and faces a growing legion of Republican challengers, was asked earlier Friday if Democrats deserved a share of the blame for the impasse.
Sidestepping the question, he responded: "It is what it is. We are where we are."
BUSINESS AS USUAL ... FOR ANOTHER WEEK
The shutdown would have forced the closure of national parks and a host of federal agencies deemed "non-essential." Some 800,000 workers would have been affected.
The temporary budget deal was a relief for NASA workers in Florida, where a government shutdown could have delayed the scheduled April 29 launch of the space shuttle Endeavor.
Similarly, the national parks will remain open, and other government agencies -- ranging from the Small Business Administration to the FHA to the IRS -- will be open for business as usual ... for at least another week.
Worried about forced furloughs, the 600,000-employee American Federation of Government Employees filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration Friday, arguing that ordering employees to work during a shutdown without assurance of pay is unconstitutional.
At least one group -- the Libertarian Party -- wasn't celebrating, and wasn't going to lose any sleep over a shutdown.
"We want to end all federal activities that are not authorized by the Constitution, and we want to cut everything else as much as we can," said executive director Wes Benedict.
"In 2000, the federal government spent $1.8 trillion. This year it's expected to spend $3.8 trillion. Things are going the wrong way -- fast."
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
