House GOP unveils $1 trillion spending bill, Senate leaders optimistic about bipartisan deal

"WASHINGTON — Bipartisan agreement is near on a massive $1 trillion-plus year-end spending package and should be reached in time avert a possible government shutdown this weekend, Senate leaders said Thursday.

The optimism came hours after Republicans said they planned to push the legislation through the House with only GOP votes. Overnight, they unveiled details of the bill, which curbs agency budgets but drops many policy provisions sought by GOP conservatives.

Democrats had been holding up the huge bill, seeking leverage in talks on extending payroll tax cuts and unemployment insurance, two pillars of Obama’s jobs agenda.

But Thursday morning, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he had talked to top Senate Democrats who helped write the spending bill and that remaining issues “should be resolvable.” He and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., expressed optimism that disputes over that bill and a separate measure extending a payroll tax cut were near an end.

The spending bill contains language to roll back President Barack Obama’s loosening of restrictions on the rights of Cuban immigrants to send money to relatives in Cuba or travel to the island to visit them. Earlier this year, the White House promised a veto over the restrictions on travel and gifts, which are supported by many in the GOP-leaning Cuban-American community, a powerful political force in the swing state of Florida."

[link to www.washingtonpost.com]