Commenting on parallel negotiations over a permanent renewal of several expired tax breaks, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi warned that Democrats would not support the measure as proposed, adding that it should not be combined with the spending measure.
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Republicans are seeking to lift the oil export ban and various financial and environmental regulations, and also want to address security concerns about Syrian refugees, while Democrats want to protect administration environmental and labor rules. “The president is not going to sign a continuing resolution that gives them additional weeks or months to negotiate an agreement”. House Speaker Paul Ryan indicated the House might need even more time to make sure the “negotiations are done well and done right”, the Associated Press reported.
Congress now has until December 16 to complete government funding that will last until the end of fiscal 2016. The Senate adopted it in similar fashion on Wednesday.
“I’m not going to put a deadline on it”, he said.
Ryan assured lawmakers from Northeastern states that legislation extending health benefits and a compensation fund for 9/11 first responders would be made part of the spending bill. This scenario would require another short-term spending bill.
“Everything is tenuous right now”.
A two-year budget and debt deal passed earlier this year set the overall spending levels, but that left it up to the powerful Appropriations Committee to allocate the money ahead of the deadline for a partial government shutdown. But the two sides have been unable to reach a final agreement due a dispute over contentious policy riders.
House Republican leaders said there would be no further roll-call votes until Tuesday, suggesting that an agreement was still a bit out of reach.
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Democrats are opposed to those riders and are demanding some of their own, such as lifting a ban on federal research on gun violence. If a deal is in hand, however, Congress could clear another stop-gap bill to allow time for votes to be held.
