WASHINGTON (AP) — A sputtering Congress is enveloped in an atmosphere poisoned with politics and distrust and enters its final weeks of the year struggling to complete a lengthy to-do list on the budget.
The so-called deficit supercommittee is hung up over taxes, raising real doubts it will succeed in its assignment of cutting deficits by at least $1.2 trillion over the next decade.
The once all-powerful appropriators responsible for everything from funding the Pentagon to making sure the Agriculture Department has enough meat inspectors are struggling, too, victims of a tea party revolt and indifference among congressional leaders themselves.
Together, the appropriators and supercommittee are responsible for filling in the details of last summer’s budget and debt ceiling agreement between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans.
