WASHINGTON — Exposed to the light of day, a year-end, $1.1 trillion spending bill drew vociferous objections from liberals and milder criticism from conservatives Wednesday while lawmakers readied a brief, stopgap measure to prevent a government shutdown both parties vowed to avoid.
Democrats complained bitterly in public about a portion of the $1.1 trillion measure that eases regulations imposed on big banks in the wake of the 2008 economic meltdown — even though 70 members of the party’s rank and file supported an identical provision in a stand-alone bill late last year.
After a closed-door meeting, Democrats also chorused objections to a separate section of the spending bill that eases limits on campaign contributions to political parties.
The White House declined to state President Barack Obama’s position on the legislation, negotiated in secret over several days by senior lawmakers, including top leaders in both parties and both houses.
“Putting these two things together in the same bill illustrates everything that’s wrong with the political process right now,” said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.
Republicans countered — correctly — that Democratic negotiators initially signed off on both. Speaker John Boehner rebuffed a request from the Democratic leader, California Rep. Nancy Pelosi, to jettison them.
“If Rep. Pelosi doesn’t think her negotiators did a good job, she should discuss it with them,” said Michael Steel, Boehner’s spokesman.
On the other side of the political spectrum, some conservatives grumbled that the measure left the administration’s controversial new immigration policy unchallenged until the end of February. That decision “makes no sense at all. We’ve let the Democrats set their agenda as though we lost the election,” said Louisiana Rep. John Fleming.
Given opposition from an unknown number of conservatives, Boehner and the Republican high command likely will need some Democratic support to assure the bill’s passage in a vote set for Thursday.
Whatever the Democrats’ motive, the political crossfire left the massive, 1,603-page bill in limbo — and so, too, chances of a smooth ending for a Congress marked by two years of intense partisanship. Other legislation awaited approval as lawmakers looked to the year-end exits.
The House voted overwhelmingly to renew a program that requires the government to assume some of the insurance risk in disasters resulting from terrorism. The vote was 417-7, even though the same bill repealed a different section of the so-called Dodd-Frank law that regulated the financial industry a few years ago.
A second measure awaiting clearance renews expiring tax provisions, and a third would bless the administration’s plan to equip and train Syrian rebels fighting Islamic State forces in the Middle East.
Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., also sought confirmation for nine more of Obama’s appointees to the federal bench and confirmation of a slew of other officials in a final show of political strength before Republicans take control of the Senate in January.
Spending breakdown in the bill
Lawmakers Tuesday released a 1,603-page, $1.1 trillion spending bill funding every government agency but the Homeland Security Department through Sept. 30, 2015. The highlights include:
Overall spending: $1.013 trillion for core agency budgets for day-to-day operations, with $521 billion for defense and $492 billion for non-defense. That represents about one-third of the federal budget and is essentially a freeze at current levels.
Defense: A base budget of $490 billion to the Pentagon, a $3.3 billion increase.
Military operations: $73.7 billion for overseas military operations and diplomatic efforts by the State Department, including $3.4 billion for the air campaign against the Islamic State.
Ebola: $5.4 billion of President Barack Obama’s $6.2 billion request to fight Ebola at home and abroad.
Foreign aid: $49 billion for foreign aid programs, an almost $3 billion increase.
Environmental Protection Agency: Cuts the EPA budget by $60 million to $8.1 billion.
Transportation: $71 billion for transportation programs, including $40 billion in highway funding for states. Aid to Amtrak would be maintained at $1.4 billion.
Housing: $26 billion for Section 8 and other public housing programs for the poor.
Crime-fighting: $8.4 billion for the FBI, a slight increase; $2.4 billion for the Drug Enforcement Administration; $1.2 billion for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and $2.3 billion for various grants to state and local law enforcement.
NASA: The space program would receive $18 billion, a $364 million increase.
