But House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., declined to commit to meeting the new deadline of Wednesday to pass a bill.
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Current funding expires Friday, so Congress is racing to pass a five-day extension, giving lawmakers until the middle of next week to finish negotiations on the omnibus bill.
The White House, against the will of some congressional Democrats, was resisting Republican attempts to pare taxes on medical devices and costly health insurance policies enacted under Obama’s 2010 health care law to help pay for that overhaul.
A stopgap spending bill would allow government to run for 5 more days and give leaders more time to squabble over what the year-end budget deal will include.
Congress sent President Barack Obama a short-term spending bill to keep the government open through next Wednesday as lawmakers and the White House rushed to finalize a $1.1 trillion government-wide spending bill and a sprawling tax package. “First and foremost, fund the government”. The House passed a bill last month that aims to toughen standards for admitting Syrian and Iraqi refugees, but the Senate has not taken up the bill. But House members say they hope to have the full text of the bill posted by Monday, or Tuesday at the latest.
Lawmakers continue to negotiate terms of the omnibus bill and political “riders” that have been tacked onto it – like a crude oil export ban and the funding of the Syrian refugee program.
The fight is complicated by parallel negotiations over extending a series of expiring tax breaks, known as extenders. U.S. Rep. Sander Levin of Royal Oak, the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said it rejected a stronger currency provision in the Senate’s version of the bill while, at the same time, taking a step toward hampering efforts to address concerns about climate change in trade legislation.
Additionally, lawmakers have reached a snag on the tax break extenders package, as they can not agree on how long to extend the tax breaks for lawmakers and individuals and are concerned about the overall cost of the package.
“I recognize that a great many folks in the media would prefer that anyone running for president engage…as an ongoing theater critic, who criticizes the proposals of others”, the Texas Republican said, adding “the right solution, I believe, is the legislation I’ve introduced”. “We think they should pass and hope they will pass”, McConnell said.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy answers questions on Friday…
Ryan said that “deadlines come and go” and missing Friday’s target is acceptable if it means getting the best deal possible.
In the aftermath of terrorist attacks in San Bernardino and Paris, the House moved Tuesday to restrict travel to the U.S.by passing a bill that would end visa-free entry to those who have visited Syria, Iraq, Iran or Sudan.
Critics, including the American Civil Liberties Union, said the measure was too arbitrary and should make exceptions for aid workers and dual nationals in those countries.
Democrats are instead pushing to include their own priorities, including lifting a ban on federal gun violence research.
Talks on a more ambitious tax measure permanently extending some of the tax breaks have stalled.
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“They got more money, but they are not willing to consider any of our policy riders”, Flores said, referring to Democrats, saying, “that’s not negotiating in good faith”.
