House GOP blocks latest Dem effort to force gun curb vote

Leaders in the House and Senate expect to complete their negotiations on a $1.1 trillion omnibus bill to fund government operations for a full year by Monday, The Hill reported Thursday.

The Senate on Thursday passed a stop-gap bill that would give negotiators until the middle of next week to reach a deal on a year-end spending bill, as congressional leaders slowly make progress toward an agreement.

The main sticking point comes over so-called riders, which are statements of policy inserted into the spending bill.

Rep. Joe Kennedy III, D-Brookline, who signed on as a co-sponsor last week to King’s bill, also sent a letter Tuesday to House Speaker Paul Ryan urging him to bring King’s bill to the floor for debate.

A Friday deadline for a federal funding bill is likely moving to next week.

“I don’t know that everybody is that relaxed, but I think most people have determined that there is not much they can do about these final negotiations”, he said.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, speaking at an event marking the third anniversary of a mass shooting at a CT elementary school, said Democrats insist the spending bill contain language ending a ban on funding for gun violence research.

House Republicans want a lower spending amount and a smaller tax increase.

Making those and the other tax breaks permanent would be a sweeping compromise, a almost $700 billion undertaking that appears increasingly hard as negotiations drag before the holiday recess.

The US Congress is nowhere near reaching a deal on federal government funding, a senior lawmaker said on Thursday, as Republicans who control both chambers struggle to meet conservative demands and show they can avoid agency shutdowns.

“Let’s try to take this opportunity to say: ‘You want to pass a bill that has all of your priorities in it?”

“It is shocking to the American people that Congress refuses to keep guns out of the hands of those on the FBI’s terrorist watch list”, Pelosi said, arguing for consideration of the bill by Representative Peter King, a Republican, and co-sponsored by many Democrats. He argued that after a recent bipartisan House vote on the issue included significant Democratic support, the requirement needed to be in the budget deal, even though Senate Democrats had vowed to block it. Disagreements between Republicans and Democrats over the environment, taxes and Syrian refugees have stalled the measure.

Adolph said the Republican plan would add money for K-12 education, special education, colleges, agricultural programs, long-term care, services for people with disabilities, rural hospitals and child advocacy centers. “There’s certainly no guarantee that we’ll get one”, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said as he left the Capitol at the end of the day. “It’s been a matter of what policy issues we include and what we do with regard the tax credit extenders”.