GOP leaders release spending bill
Republican leadership early Wednesday morning released a 2,009-page end-of-the-year spending bill, likely setting up a vote in the House for Friday.
The $1.149 trillion legislation links myriad policy fights, including tightening the visa program in the wake of terrorist attacks, reauthorizing healthcare benefits for 9/11 first responders through 2090 and a ban on transferring Guantanamo Bay detainees into the United States.
{mosads}The legislation, which comes after weeks-long negotiations, would fund the government through September 2016, when the 2016 fiscal year ends.
House leadership had hoped to post the legislation Tuesday, which would have allowed for a vote on Thursday under House rules. However, because the legislation was posted at about 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, it likely sets up a vote in the House on Friday in order to follow the so-called three-day rule.
In a swipe at former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the legislation would block funding for the State Department and the Agency for International Development (USAID) for private email servers and require that officials turn over all federal records before stepping down.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) praised the legislation, calling it “our best option to responsibly meet national security requirements, improve our country’s infrastructure and address other public needs.”
Click here for the text of the bill.
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