Congress is struggling to find agreement over several dozen “riders” on a $1.2 trillion omnibus spending package that must pass by Friday midnight.
Republican appropriators had hoped to introduce the legislation by tonight but are not ready, which could stall the release until much later Monday or, lawmakers say, more likely some time on Tuesday.
The House is scheduled to leave town for a two-week recess on Thursday, but Republicans were warned Monday to keep their schedules flexible.
“I don’t think they can get all of these things resolved by tonight,” Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, said.
Republican leaders told rank-and-file lawmakers hoping to get a briefing on the spending package in a late Monday meeting the spending bill is still a work in progress.
But they released some key details, such as the exclusion of Obamacare subsidies from the legislation, apparently because Democrats wanted to strip out language banning taxpayer funding of abortions, which they have argued is already encoded into law.
Republicans also sought stronger revisions to Obamacare, which they have longed to abolish and did not support.
“The idea you are going to vote for billions of dollars for a system you never supported in the first place is pretty hard to choke down,” Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla, a top appropriator, said Monday.
The two parties had hoped to pave the way to a quick passage of the spending bill after securing a two-year deal on spending caps in February.
The omnibus is to fund the federal government for the remaining six months of fiscal 2018. It includes raised spending caps that boost funding for both military and domestic programs.
But Democrats and Republicans are also insisting on adding additional provisions that would hitch a ride on the omnibus.
“There are a lot of things in flux so it’s hard to give a solid idea where we are landing at this point,” Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., the chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, said after the meeting.
Rep. Daniel Webster, R-Fla., said one of the main sticking points is over language that would fix a provision in the recently passed tax reform law that concerns tax breaks for grain cooperatives.
Democrats are reluctant to approve a “fix” to the tax bill, which they opposed unanimously.
Repubilcan leaders also decided to exclude language that would have allowed states to leverage a tax on online purchases.
Republicans are also debating whether to include a provision to bolster the national background check system for gun purchases, otherwise known as the Fix NICS bill.
The language could be part of the omnibus, lawmakers said, but it might cost them dozens of critical votes from GOP lawmakers who want language expanding reciprocity for concealed carry permit holders, which is not in the bill.
In December, 39 Republicans sent a letter to GOP leaders urging them not to take up Fix NICS legislation without including the reciprocity for concealed carry permit holders.
Republican leaders worry keeping Fix NICS in the omnibus will cost them too many GOP votes.
“By taking reciprocity out, some Republicans think nothing should be included,” Webster said. “So I don’t know if it will amount to enough votes to vote against it, but I know there is concern about that one thing.”
Republicans said they are negotiating riders with their own lawmakers and with Democrats, who will be needed to pass the measure in the House and Senate and are part of the current negotiations.
It’s a tough equation to solve, Simpson said.
“Whenever you compromise with the Democrats and make a deal it’s going to P.O. some Republicans,” Simpson said. “That’s the nature of the business.”
Many in the most conservative wing of the GOP who are fiscal hawks are likely to vote against the measure because it exceeds federal spending caps.
“You won’t get 218 Republicans; we are going to have to have some Democrats,” Simpson said. “But the Democrats have got a lot of good things in this bill that is important to them, too.”
Lawmakers say they predict a House vote on Wednesday but have not been given a specific time from Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis.
A snowstorm is expected mid-week in Washington, but with all lawmakers in town by late Monday, it’s unclear how the weather would impact congressional business, if at all.
Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., said he’s not worried about shedding too many GOP votes on the spending legislation and is confident a bill will pass without having to rely mostly on Democrats.
“We had a strong majority last time and I expect the same this time,” Scalise said Monday.
