Congress is closing in on a final spending deal in the last week of the lame duck session, Politico reports. Negotiations between the Republican House and the Democratic Senate on appropriations are nearly complete, and the impending deal would be, according to senior congressional reporter David Rogers, “a personal triumph” for the top appropriators in each house, Republican Hal Rogers of Kentucky and Democrat Barbara Mikulski of Maryland. 

Politico’s Rogers explains how the appropriators, mostly behind closed doors, spent the weekend negotiating policy riders—amendments attached to the spending bill to change or influence policy—on a number of issues, from transportation regulations to child nutrition standards. But, as Mickey Kaus notes, one policy dispute of particular interest to Republicans has been all but ignored by Hal Rogers and GOP appropriators: