Senate approves short-term bill to keep government running to Dec. 16

House Republicans passed a 4 percent spending increase, supported by a two-year, almost $1 billion revenue package that includes a casino gambling expansion.

The House is expected to pass a similar measure Friday. “We’re going to get it done”.

“We have got a lot of items to discuss and resolve”.

And he complained that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a fellow Republican, may get a campaign finance provision inserted in the bill that critics say would increase the influence of wealthy donors to political parties.

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.

“I’ll see you on New Year’s”, said Dermody, “because we’ll be here working on a budget for the next month or longer”. Both sides had been negotiating over policy riders-amendments unrelated to larger bill that advance policy goals for one side or the other-with a midnight Saturday deadline looming.

Philadelphia Sen. Vince Hughes, the ranking Democrat on Appropriations, said details of a tax package remain unsettled.

House Democrats, who’ve sought to draw attention to their push for gun control legislation in the wake of recent mass shootings, emphasized a new demand during the day as they announced their opposition to any bill that doesn’t undo a longstanding provision that has been interpreted to block the Centers for Disease Control from conducting research on gun violence.

In an attempt to give these hardliners more say, House Republicans on Thursday chose one of them, Kansas Rep. Tim Huelskamp, for a committee that influences legislation and appointments to key House positions.

But Pelosi has leverage – and she is using it. Ryan faces significant defections from conservatives who are critical of giving in at all on policy riders, so the GOP members admit that again they will need Democrats to pass the bill to avoid another shutdown. “Dozens, in fact”, Rogers told reporters Wednesday.

The top House Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., pushed back on Roger’s timeline of next week saying “the issues out there were known to both sides 24 hours ago, and there has to be some decisions made”. We’re not going to let Democrats jam us with hard deadlines – these are all artificial deadlines.

Along with the spending bill negotiators are also trading offers and counter offers on a massive bill extending a wide range of tax cuts.