Photo by pablo.raw.

This evening, residents of the District can breathe a small sigh of relief — Congressional leaders have apparently come to an agreement which will avoid a shutdown of the federal government, and, in turn, saves the District from what would have been several stoppages of city services.

The parties have agreed to pass a band-aid extension through Thursday to actually dot the i’s and cross the t’s on the final budget. President Barack Obama is about to address the media, while the House of Representatives will shortly vote on a continuing resolution to approve an extension to allow the deal to be actually put to paper. The specifics of the deal — specifically of interest to Washingtonians: whether riders prohibiting using D.C. funds on abortions and needle-exchange programs remains a part of the deal — will undoubtedly be examined in painstaking detail over the next day or two.

UPDATE: ABC News’ Jake Tapper reports that the agreement includes a rider which would prevent the District from spending funds on abortion access for women.

In the very very short term, this means that tomorrow’s garbage protest at John Boehner’s D.C. residence is likely off — those planning on attending it should, of course, check the protest’s Facebook page for more details.