U.S. lawmakers say framework agreement reached on 2022 spending bill

On February 10, key Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress took a major step toward funding the federal government for the full year. They agreed on a broad framework that will allow it to add details in the coming weeks to pass what could be a $1.5 trillion spending package. The preliminary deal comes after the House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a three-week spending bill to avoid a Feb. 18 federal government shutdown. The Senate will discuss the spending bill next week. The bill would extend funding to the government until March 11 to give lawmakers more time to complete spending plans for fiscal 2022.