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House lawmakers predict another short-term spending bill | TheHill

posted onJanuary 9, 2018
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Article snippet: House appropriators returning to Washington on Monday predicted that another short-term spending bill will be needed to avoid a government shutdown next week as budget negotiations have stalled amid a contentious fight over immigration.  “I do believe we’ll need another [continuing resolution], hopefully short-term,” Rep. MORE (R-Okla.), an appropriations cardinal, told The Hill on Monday. The government has been operating under a series of short-term extensions since the start of fiscal 2018, with the current continuing resolution (CR) set to expire on Jan. 19.  Lawmakers were optimistic before leaving town for the holidays last month that congressional leaders would be able to reach a bipartisan agreement on boosting budget caps, which are needed to avoid automatic spending cuts and lay the ground work for a massive omnibus package, by next Friday’s deadline.  But negotiations appear to have hit a snag as MORE has renewed calls that his proposed border wall be included in any deal over the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which Trump is ending in March. Democrats who are pushing to include protections for young immigrants in a spending bill say that a border wall is a non-starter for them. The impasse on immigration has also stymied bipartisan work on the budget caps, with Republicans claiming Democrats are slow-walking a deal on top-line spending numbers until they get a DACA fix. But with no agreement in sight, that means anot... Link to the full article to read more

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