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WASHINGTON (AP) β Congressional leaders have reached an agreement on overall spending levels for the current fiscal year that could help avoid a partial government shutdown later this month. House Speaker Mike Johnson is hailing the agreement in a letter to colleagues as βthe most favorable budget agreement Republicans have achieved in over a decade.β President Joe Biden says the agreement is one step closer “to preventing a needless government shutdown and protecting important national priorities.β Lawmakers needed an agreement on overall spending levels so that appropriators could write the bills that set line-by-line money for agencies. Funding is set to lapse Jan. 19 for some agencies and Feb. 2 for others.