House Speaker Boehner: There Will Not Be a Government Shutdown

There won't be a federal-government shutdown this year, and Congress will work on a temporary spending measure in September, once lawmakers return from their summer recess, House Speaker John Boehner, said Thursday. Democrats and Republicans have been unable to agree on annual spending bills, and without a deal by Sept. 30, the government will partially shut down. A temporary spending measure will be needed to avoid the Sept. 30 deadline, but details haven't been decided, Boehner said. Analysts estimate that Congress will have to raise the debt ceiling sometime in the fourth quarter or the U.S. might be unable to pay benefits like Social Security and could default on its debt. Democrats and Republicans had a bitter fight over the debt limit that rocked financial markets in August 2011, but the two parties have managed since then to avoid a similar standoff. On Thursday, Boehner said there won't be another showdown over the federal debt limit.