Senate leaders reach deal on shutdown, debt limit

WASHINGTON - October 16, 2013 (WPVI) -- Senate leaders have reached an agreement on a compromise that would fund the government until Jan. 15 and extend the debt limit until Feb. 7.

The proposal would also require income verification for people receiving health insurance premium subsidies from the federal government and it would ensure that the Treasury Department has the authority to use "extraordinary measures" to extend temporarily the debt limit, if necessary.

And in a bid to potentially prevent a replay of this crisis, the House and Senate would appoint a new committee to negotiate a budget for the remainder of the year, with their agreement due by Dec. 13.

With less than a day remaining before the debt limit is reached, Congress needs to work feverishly to pass the legislation that would also end the partial government shutdown.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have worked for days to craft compromise legislation and both sides said they believe that the resulting proposal would pass the Senate and eventually be taken up in the House.

But what happens there could test what little political strength House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has left.

Boehner suffered a major loss Tuesday when his proposals to end the impasse twice did not appear to have enough votes from Republicans to pass on the House floor.

And the Senate's proposal was not expected to include much of what conservative Republicans could support, which could make its path in the House rockier.

READ MORE at ABCNews.com.

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washington, d.c., government shutdown, national/world

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