GOP Leaders Agree on Budget Plan

Senate and House Republican congressional leaders worked out a compromise on a $1.7-trillion federal budget for fiscal 2000 and plan to push the measure through Congress this week. The spending plan, designed to highlight the GOP’s political message, would pave the way for about $800 billion in tax cuts over the next decade while setting aside Social Security surpluses and heeding spending limits enacted two years ago. The compromise plan also sets overall limits for spending and taxes for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 and does not require President Clinton’s signature.