WASHINGTON—House Republicans have unveiled a short-term spending bill to keep the government open and give senior lawmakers a few more days to finalize a massive spending bill and a package of tax breaks.
Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) unveiled the bill that would run through next Wednesday. Without the stopgap measure, many government functions would shut down at midnight on Friday.
Both Republicans and Democrats said Wednesday that dominos are beginning to fall in late-stage talks: Republicans appear likely to win repeal of a ban on exporting U.S. oil while Democrats are on track to renew tax breaks for solar power and other renewable energy sources.
High-profile GOP attempts to rein in new Obama administration environmental regulations are being winnowed away, though Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) appears on track to win a change in campaign finance law to lift limits on spending by party committees of behalf of candidates for federal office.
The spending measure—dubbed “The Omnibus” inside the Capital Beltway—is an amalgam of 12 spending bills distributing the $1.1 trillion portion of the budget that’s set each year at the discretion of lawmakers. The package of “tax extenders” is a hodgepodge of tax breaks that get renewed every couple of years or so.
