HOUSE PASSES BUDGET BILL

The House of Representatives was well on its way to passing the budget bill that was the result of a deal brokered by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Sen.), clearing its biggest hurdle on the way to becoming law.

The House currently has more than the required 218 votes to pass the bill.

The deal has been hailed by bipartisan members of Congress and by President Barack Obama as a step toward ending the brutal fiscal fights that have become the norm in Washington over the past two years.

The mini-bargain - the "Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013" - sets discretionary spending levels a little above $1 trillion for the next two years, while repealing and replacing some cuts of sequestration. In fiscal year 2014, spending is set at $1.012 trillion, which sits about halfway between the proposed levels of the House and Senate budgets. Current law under sequestration calls for caps of $967 billion.

The legislation provides $63 billion in sequester relief over two years, which is split evenly between defense and non-defense programs. This is offset by targeted spending cuts and non-tax revenues that total $85 billion. Ryan and Murray said that the deal will reduce the deficit between $20 and $23 billion over a 10-year period.

The deal had faced staunch opposition from outside conservative groups, leading to heavy friction between the groups and House GOP leadership. Boehner has blasted the groups each of the past two days, criticizing them for coming out against the deal before they even knew its details.

"When you criticize something and you have no idea what you're criticizing, you've lost your credibility," Boehner said.

The Senate is likely to vote on the budget bill next week.