Reid: Jobless Benefits Could Be Part of Debt Deal

The Huffington Post reports:

A deal to raise the statutory U.S. borrowing limit and cut the federal budget may preserve federal unemployment benefits set to expire at the beginning of next year, lawmakers said Tuesday.

President Obama has said he'd agree to billions in spending cuts in exchange for higher taxers as part of a "grand bargain" to address the nation's long-term fiscal imbalance while preventing a potentially disastrous default at the beginning of August.

HuffPost asked Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) if congressional negotiators and the White House were considering reauthorizing the extended benefits as part of the deal.

"On the grand bargain, of course," Reid said.