House Speaker Paul Ryan told President Obama and other congressional leaders on Monday he is opposed to passing a massive omnibus spending package at the end of the year.
Ryan, R-Wis., met with President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic leaders to discuss a path forward on a short-term measure to keep the government funded past a Sept. 30 deadline as well as provide funding to help combat the Zika virus.
McConnell is working on a deal with Reid and Obama to fund the government through Dec. 9.
“The leaders discussed their desire to reach a speedy resolution on a short-term spending bill, including funding for the Zika virus,” a GOP aide said.
In the meeting, Ryan called for an effort to normalize the appropriations process, in particular defense spending, which is negatively impacted by stop-gap spending.
Lawmakers will return to Congress after the November election to begin working on government spending bills for the remainder of the fiscal year.
In the past two decades, the congressional appropriations process has fallen apart and required last-minute deals cut between Congress and the White House to keep the government funded. Those deals have often resulted in an omnibus spending bill.
Republican leaders in the House are discussing plans to ditch the omnibus and package spending bills into “minibuses,” rather than one big bill.
According to the GOP aide, the lawmakers and President discussed “other remaining priorities including legislation on mental health, criminal justice reform, and medical research.”
