Congress Passes 5-Day Spending Bill, Temporarily Averts Government Shutdown

Just hours before a midnight deadline, lawmakers in both the House and Senate have approved a temporary spending bill to avoid another government shutdown.

Yet far from threatening an attempt to oust the speaker, conservatives are applauding - not the $1.1 trillion spending bill, which many of them plan to oppose when it comes to a vote, but rather Ryan himself.

The House passed a short-term bill Friday to fund the government through next Wednesday, and President Barack Obama promptly signed the measure into law, averting a government shutdown that would have happened Saturday.

To give themselves extra time, senators voted to extend government funding, which officially runs out Friday, through next Wednesday.

"I'm not going to be able to give him a vote, but I don't think we need to have a revolt over it, either", King said.

Paul Ryan, the House's new speaker, promised a fresh start. It is imperative to state that GOP lawmakers wanted to insert language into the bills ending the four-decade band on US Oil exports and curbing Syrian refugees from entering the United States.

A two-year budget and debt deal passed earlier this year set the overall spending levels, but that left it up to the powerful Appropriations Committee to allocate the money ahead of the deadline for a partial government shutdown.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the bill "turns a blind eye to human trafficking" and criticized it for refusing to address climate change as part of trade negotiations. "I want to make sure that these negotiations are done well and done right, and not by some arbitrary deadline".

Congress is slated to adjourn for the year by the end of next week, and finishing the huge omnibus spending bill is the last big priority before lawmakers head home for the holidays.

Congressional leaders had hoped to pass a $US1.15 trillion bill funding the full fiscal year 2016 by Friday but have been bogged down for weeks over which policy measures, known as "riders", will be included in the bill.

The measure will now go to the Senate for final passage.

In the wake of shootings in California and Colorado, the California Democrat is also calling on Republicans to end a 19-year ban on federally-funded gun violence research.

Republicans wanted business tax reductions for research and development and for equipment purchases to be made permanent. Democrats and the administration want permanent tax credits for low income families and tax credits for renewable energy projects.

"We're kind of in this awkward spot because it's hard to get 218 votes from Republicans on appropriations bills, and the Democrats know that", Flores told The Daily Signal.

Opponents, mostly Democrats, said the bill sends the wrong message as US diplomats meet in Paris with more than 190 nations to finalize an agreement to reduce man-made carbon emissions and adapt to rising seas and increasingly extreme weather.

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