House GOP to unveil short-term funding bill Tuesday

House Republican leaders are planning to release the text of a stopgap spending bill on Tuesday, four days ahead of the deadline to fund the government.

“The continuing resolution [CR], I believe, will be posted tomorrow,” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told reporters Monday.

McCarthy said he plans to wrap up work in the House by Thursday, letting lawmakers out a week early for the Christmas holiday.

He declined to say which pieces of the bill were still being worked out, but said discussions were “very close” to complete. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters on Friday that she expected to see text as early as Monday.

McCarthy declined to say how much time the short-term spending bill will cover. But Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has acknowledged eying a bill that could extend through late April or May to help accommodate the Senate’s packed legislative calendar.

Defense hawks, however, have scoffed at the extended short-term bill, which they say shortchanges funding for the Pentagon.

Multiple lawmakers and aides have said GOP leaders have all but decided on a May deadline for the stopgap, rather than the initial end date, which was March 31.

Besides the government spending bill, the House has one other to-do item this week: The Water Resources Development Act.

McCarthy said the text for that bill — which is expected to include millions of dollars in long-awaited aid for the lead contamination crisis in Flint, Mich. — would be posted later Monday.

The Senate is also planning to vote on a massive medical innovation called 21st Century Cures, which has recently drawn ire from liberals including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

The lengthier agenda in the Senate could keep the upper chamber in town through next week.

– Scott Wong contributed.