Washington – House Republicans abandoned a last-minute attempt to limit individual political donations to independent organizations Sunday, setting up for passage a military measure that had been stalled by the effort.
GOP leaders had sought to attach the campaign-finance legislation to a final defense bill, a move aimed at hampering Democratic-aligned groups such as MoveOn.org that were a powerful voice in 2004 and could threaten GOP candidates next year.
A bipartisan group in the Senate joined House Democrats in criticizing the 11th-hour maneuver and refusing to sign off on the plan.
The standoff had put into question the fate of the bill that sets Pentagon policy and, like a separate defense spending measure, includes a ban on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of foreign terrorism suspects in U.S. custody as well as other restrictions on detainee interrogation and prosecution.
It would have been the first time in more than 40 years that Congress would have failed to send the president an authorization bill setting Pentagon policy.
Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., spent Sunday working to persuade a group of fellow House Republicans to drop their effort to attach the campaign-finance measure to the defense bill.
They agreed late Sunday, and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., sent word that the defense bill would be voted on before the chamber adjourned for the year.
