By David Lawder
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional negotiators raced on Tuesday to wrap up several policy disputes over a $1.1 trillion spending bill as a midnight Thursday deadline to avert a U.S. government shutdown drew closer.
As a precautionary measure, preparations were underway for a possible short-term extension of government spending for one or two days to avoid a shutdown in case negotiations dragged on further, lawmakers and congressional aides said.
The snag in the talks added some drama to a spending bill that appeared to be cruising toward passage, despite demands from conservative Republicans to withhold spending on President Barack Obama's immigration order easing the threat of deportation for millions of undocumented immigrants.
Current government spending authority expires at 12:01 a.m. EST (0501 GMT) on Friday.
House and Senate leaders still hope to release the measure on Tuesday. It aims to fund all government agencies through September 2015, except for the Department of Homeland Security, which would be extended only through late February.
Senator Richard Shelby, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said it was possible passage of the measure could stretch to the weekend. Asked what was holding it up, he said: "A lot of things."
Congress was scheduled to adjourn for the year on Thursday, returning in January when a new Republican Senate majority and a larger House Republican majority take over.
"I believe that we will not have a shutdown, and I believe we will not have government on autopilot. The exact time and hour, I am not exactly sure," Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Barbara Mikulski said on Monday night.
The spending provisions in the massive "omnibus" funding bill have been worked out, keeping domestic spending largely flat with last year, and providing emergency funds to fight Islamic State militants and the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. But the talks hit a snag over attempts to include policy provisions.
Among the unresolved disputes was a Republican-authored provision that would prevent new restrictions on derivatives trading by large banks from taking effect. The plan would block a portion of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law that would require banks to shift derivatives trade away from units that have access to federal deposit insurance or discounted Federal Reserve loans.
Other provisions Republicans have attempted to add to the law include a relaxation of new nutrition standards for federally funded school lunches and relaxation of a scheduling rule for long-haul truckers that would require them to rest longer between 70-hour workweeks.
(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Tom Brown)
- Politics & Government
- Government
- government spending
- President Barack Obama
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