Omnibus appropriations as well as the details of the tax extenders package are the two primary outstanding issues in negotiations, according to lawmakers. “That’s what we’re working on this week and it might take us more than just this week to get these issues put together correctly,” House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., told a Wisconsin radio station.
Originally, House and Senate negotiators hoped to have a deal finalized and ready to file by Dec. 7, but a lack of resolution on key issues meant that deadline was missed. That is raising questions on the potential for the omnibus package to pass both chambers ahead of the Dec. 11 deadline.
Policy riders which seek to gut President Obama’s clean air and water rules may still be included in a final bill, though Democrats recently floated a proposal that would not include those policy riders in exchange for a provision which would lift the ban on crude oil exports, a Republican priority. It isn’t clear whether the President would sign a bill containing either the riders or the oil provision, both of which he has previously opposed.
The White House has also hinted that the President might not sign a short term CR to keep the government open past the Dec. 11 deadline if no final omnibus proposal was offered, according to White House Spokesman Josh Earnest.