What Dems are trying to accomplish

Top appropriators are looking to cement the overall spending levels on the stalled funding bill as soon as Tuesday, a critical step for negotiations to wrap up by the end of the year.

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Federal cash expires at midnight on Friday. To ward off a shutdown, Schumer has called on Congress to pass a week-long stopgap spending fix, giving appropriators extra time to put the finishing touches on the sprawling $1.7 trillion funding bill.

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Lawmakers have largely agreed to set the defense budget at about $858 billion for this fiscal year, a 10 percent increase over current funding levels.

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While appropriators have agreed on how much to spend on defense, the main holdup has been on domestic funding levels.

  Politico

God knows we have to have at least that "defense" spending increase every fucking year.

Senators have been working on a bipartisan deal to adjust the Electoral Count Act since Trump tested its limits on Jan. 6. Legislation passed the Senate Rules Committee in September with broad support, including from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Democrats and Republicans have also largely agreed for months that Ukraine will need more assistance before the end of the year.

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But timing is extremely tight and a number of pitfalls could complicate passage in both chambers, including a host of unrelated policy provisions that members will push to include before the start of the next Congress in January.

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“I hope we in the next few days come to agreement on an omnibus,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.). [...] “I’m optimistic that the House and Senate will do the right thing,” the Maryland Democrat said.

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Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, a senior Republican appropriator who’s also retiring, said, “I actually thought by this time today I’d be saying, ‘Yes, we have a deal and we’re working on putting the final touches on it.’ I can’t say that yet, but I’m still optimistic.”

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Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said he’s approaching a government funding deal with a healthy dose of skepticism.

“The signals are positive but I am skeptical,” the Illinois Democrat said. “I have spent too many Christmases and New Year’s Eves sitting here … I think bitter experiences perhaps made me pessimistic.”

Have to agree with Dick on this one.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:  Once again.  Such drama.  You know they're going to come to an agreement, and you know that because they all want to go home for the holidays as soon as they can.