A Fort Worth family said it worried that a government shutdown would derail their adoption plans.
Heidi and Michael Reeder are adopting a 3-year-old girl from Russia. But the "nonessential" government employees processing their paperwork would stop working in the event of a closure, essentially stopping the adoption process.
"It's all essential to me, because it has to do with your daughter who is stuck in Russia that we're trying to bring home, so it's all essential to us," Heidi Reeder said.
Congressional leaders reached an agreement with the White House late Friday night on a deal to cut $39 billion in federal spending, averting a shutdown.
A temporary government funding measure expired at midnight ET.
"To think that you're this close to the end or the finish line and to know it's not a foreign government
that is going to stand in your way, but your government -- that's really a tough pill to swallow," Michael Reeder said.
The couple has a 9-year-old son and have been trying to adopt their daughter for more than two years.
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"We're very emotionally involved, and we consider her already a part of our family, and we talk about her, and when she gets here, we'll do this and that," Heidi Reeder said.
The Reeders have a May 10 court hearing in Russia to finalize the adoption. They're hoping the deal to keep the government open lasts so they can get their daughter home.
After the deal was reached, lawmakers passed an interim measure to fund the government for the next several days while the budget legislation is drafted and passed.
