This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/massive-spending-bill-hits-snag-in-congress-as-deadline-draws-near/2014/12/09/981a81b4-7fa7-11e4-81fd-8c4814dfa9d7_story.html?wprss=rss_homepage
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 3 | Version 4 |
---|---|
Deal reached on $1.01 trillion spending bill | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Congressional leaders unveiled a massive $1.01 trillion spending bill Tuesday night that will keep most of the federal government funded through September. | |
The legislation is expected to pass in the coming days and will allow the new Republican-controlled Congress to clear the decks of lingering spending issues, while setting the stage for a prolonged fight with President Obama over immigration policy. | |
At 1,603 pages, the legislation provides money to fight the rise of the Islamic State and $5.4 billion to fight the threat of Ebola. But there is no additional money for the Affordable Care Act and there are modest spending cuts at the Environmental Protection Agency and Internal Revenue Service, two perennial GOP targets. Still, Democrats won bigger budgets for enforcement at agencies created after the 2008 economic collapse. | |
House leaders said they will introduce a stopgap bill to give the House and Senate more time to pass the final bill and avoid a government shutdown Thursday night. Extending current funding for just a few days has happened before, but doing so again this year would provide an embarrassing climax to one of the most fruitless congressional sessions in history. | |
“There’s no reason the government should shut down,” Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said Tuesday. “And we’re ready to pass a year-long spending bill to take care of this.” | |
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) provided assurances that the bill would pass “before we leave here this week.” | |
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the third-ranking GOP senator, joked that last-minute drama with the spending plan “is a Christmas tradition.” But, he added, “I don’t see it getting derailed. I think it could get slowed down, but I think it will ultimately get across the finish line.” | |
The $1.01 trillion agreement hews to spending caps agreed to by the White House and lawmakers last year. It includes $521 billion in military spending and $492 billion for other federal agencies. An additional $64 billion would be set aside for overseas military operations, including the fight against the Islamic State and to assist European countries facing Russian aggression. | |
The legislation would provide full funding for 11 of the 12 appropriations bills Congress is supposed to pass each year. But Republicans insisted on extending funding for the Department of Homeland Security, which has jurisdiction over immigration enforcement, just until late February. Doing so will give Republicans more time to craft a legislative response to Obama’s decision to use his executive authority to change immigration policy. | |
Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) and Rep. Harold Rogers (R-Ky.), who led the talks as heads of the Senate and House and Appropriations committees, described the agreement as a fair deal for both sides. | |
“While not everyone got everything they wanted, such compromises must be made in a divided government,” they said in a joint statement. “These are the tough choices that we must make to govern responsibly and do what the American people sent us here to do.” | |
The bill authorizes a 1 percent pay raise for military service members but says nothing about a pay raise for civilian federal workers. In response to recent scandals, there would once again be bans and limitations on certain federal agency conferences and employee awards. | |
At domestic agencies, the EPA’s budget would be cut by $60 million, and the IRS would lose $345.6 million, according to GOP negotiators. The nation’s tax agency also would be banned from targeting organizations seeking tax-exempt status based on their ideological beliefs. | |
The bill is packed with policy instructions, called “riders,” that were the subject of months of discussions between Democrats and Republicans. The Obama administration would once again be blocked from transferring terrorism detainees at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, into the United States. And the federal government would be banned from adding sage-grouse, a bird found in many Western states, to the endangered species list. | |
In a blow to the District of Columbia, Congress would block sales of marijuana but allow city officials to implement a law approved by voters last month that allows for possession of up to two ounces of pot and home cultivation of up to three mature cannabis plants. | |
Reid told reporters Tuesday that he opposes putting any restrictions on the District’s new marijuana program, but conceded that it may be difficult to remove such language from the final bill. | Reid told reporters Tuesday that he opposes putting any restrictions on the District’s new marijuana program, but conceded that it may be difficult to remove such language from the final bill. |
“The District of Columbia should do what they want to do,” he said. | “The District of Columbia should do what they want to do,” he said. |
Aaron Davis contributed to this report. | Aaron Davis contributed to this report. |