Budget Battle Intensifies as Shutdown Threat Looms.

Republicans plan to pursue appropriations bills with less spending than the top-line numbers they agreed to in a deal with the White House last month, drawing immediate pushback from Democrats who say an attempt to circumvent the debt ceiling agreement's top-line numbers effectively guarantees a standoff with the Senate and White House and possibly even a damaging government stoppage when funding expires this fall. The emerging dynamic raises the potential for another round of economy-rattling brinkmanship in Washington just months after lawmakers narrowly avoided a damaging federal default.