House passes bill to fund agencies two more weeks

With many legislative priorities still waiting for action, the House Wednesday approved legislation that would continue funding federal government programs, most at fiscal year 2010 levels, through Dec. 18.

The measure, which passed 239-178, would extend the current continuing resolution, which expires Friday, for just over two weeks.

The CR now goes to the Senate, where timing on the measure is unclear. Earlier Wednesday, all 42 Senate Republicans pledged to filibuster all legislation until federal government funding is extended and the Bush-era tax cuts are addressed before they expire December 31.

During the House debate, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., stressed that the measure just extends the current CR by two weeks.

"The legislation is one page long," Obey said. "It does only one thing: it changes the date so that we can keep the government running from this Friday, December 3, to Saturday, December 18."

Obey said the additional time will give appropriators time to work on a continuing resolution that would run through the end of the fiscal year.

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, is working on an omnibus bill that would package all 12 annual appropriations bills into one package. But he will need a few Republicans senators to back the bill in order to overcome any likely filibusters or procedural hurdles and it is unclear if he has the votes.

House Defense Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., said the House work on a year-long CR is a backstop in case the Senate cannot pass an omnibus. Dicks said he would prefer an omnibus.

House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., noted that the CR "will give the Senate, hopefully, some time to do its work."

"The fact is that we are obviously working towards either an omnibus or a longer-term CR passed through the Senate," Hoyer said.

"We will probably consider a longer-term CR at some point in time in the House of Representatives in the next two weeks," he said.

House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., said he doesn't support the two-week extension or the year-long CR because spending levels in it are too high. He also opposes an omnibus.

"Instead of this last ditch effort by the Democrat majority to give themselves more time to spend taxpayer dollars, Congress should extend the CR until the next Congress," Lewis said "This would allow the new House Republican majority to begin putting our Nation's fiscal house in order by completing the fiscal year 2011 Appropriations bills at 2008 levels, saving taxpayers $100 billion."

In response, Obey said that Republican tough talk on spending was nothing more than political sable rattling.

"I assumed because the election was over we would have a temporary suspension of election year rhetoric, but evidently I was wrong," he said.

Billy House contributed to this report.