The Republican leader filed cloture to end debate on the deal, which also raises the debt ceiling. Unless senators can reach an agreement to speed up its consideration of the legislation, a procedural vote would take place Friday. [...]Despite the conservative pushback, the Senate is expected to pass the legislation ahead of the Nov. 3 deadline to avoid a debt default.
Without revealing details, the Democrats delivered their counter-offer Wednesday night. Republican appropriators are preparing their response to the counter-offer, which they intend to deliver to the Democrats as early as Thursday afternoon, according to a GOP aide.
Lawmakers have until Friday to pass a long-term, catchall spending bill known as an omnibus. Negotiators are aiming to release the text of the massive legislation on Monday in order to schedule votes by midweek.
The goal is to release final legislative text Monday or Tuesday. If leaders can't pass a bill through both chambers and get it to the President to sign by Friday night they will need to pass a short-term funding measure so they can finish the bill next week. The House and Senate are both scheduled to leave town December 18.
“I don't see any of [the negotiations] ending when it comes to extenders or when it comes to the omni,” McCarthy, who controls the floor schedule, told reporters during a briefing in his office. “I'm seriously looking at having us in on Friday and maybe even this weekend to get our work done.”The House originally had planned to be out of session on Friday. But bipartisan House negotiators have yet to roll out their omnibus proposal, raising the likelihood they won't be able to pass it and send it to the Senate before Friday's deadline.In a local radio interview Monday, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said “it might take us more than just this week to get these issues put together correctly.”
But President Obama has vowed that he won’t sign another stopgap funding measure, also known as a continuing resolution (CR), and the White House on Monday amplified that warning. One exception would be if lawmakers reach a deal but need extra time to draft the bill.“The president’s not going to sign a CR that will give members of Congress additional time to negotiate,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said. [...]For now, negotiators from both parties have declined to identify the specific sticking points. If history is any guide, the silence from the leaders and appropriators negotiating the package could be an indication that a deal is imminent.“This all appears to be standard posturing. I’m still optimistic we’ll figure it out,” said one senior GOP lawmaker familiar with the negotiations. “They’re pushing for very limited riders; we are pushing for more.”
Commercial crew is fully funded at $1.2438B!There is also $55M for a habitation augmentation module.
Jeff Foust @jeff_foust Exploration gets $4.03B, including $1.27B for Orion and $2B for SLS, the latter far above the administration’s request.
Jeff Foust @jeff_foust Science gets $5.589B. That includes $1.921B for Earth science (close to the request) and $1.631B for planetary (well above request).That planetary figure includes $175M for a Europa mission that “shall include an orbiter with a lander” with a 2022 target launch date.Aeronautics gets $640M (above request.) Space Tech gets $686.5M (below request, but better that House and Senate bills).The SLS funding includes $85M for work on the Exploration Upper Stage, and states that NASA shall not fund human-rating of the ICPS.