Leaders Hope To Avert Government Shutdown

President Clinton and congressional leaders Tuesday agreed to negotiate a short-term spending plan that would avoid an Oct. 1 government shutdown, but Republican leaders said they are not ready to sign on to any formal agreement until Congress completes more work on long-term spending plans.

Emerging from an hour-long session at the White House, GOP and Democratic congressional leaders made clear they had no appetite for shutting down the government, which could happen if the 13 annual spending bills that fund its operations have not become law by the beginning of the new fiscal year, Oct. 1. Clinton, who has threatened to veto five or six of the bills, acknowledged for the first time Tuesday that work won’t be completed on all 13 by the end of September.