The current Continuing Resolution (CR) is slated to expire on December 20th and Congress is scrambling to determine which bills can be approved by the deadline and which federal departments will have to operate on another CR (which would likely run into early next year). Combining the 12 annual spending bills into an omnibus package would be the quickest way for appropriators to wrap up the process, but it also could increase the odds of a stalemate with the White House over border wall funding.
House Democratic are insisting that such a complete omnibus package must be finalized before any of the individual 12 spending bills can reach the floor. On Tuesday, Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) expressed his doubt that all 12 bills could be finalized before the December 20th deadline, “that would be a monumental achievement to do that and it would be hard.”
Moreover, not much progress has been made between Democrats and Republicans on trying to get approximately $30 billion in tax extenders on any such year-end CR. The Democratic priority list for such extenders is currently too large for Republicans to handle because it includes the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and the “Cadillac Tax” associated with funding the Affordable Care Act, among non-starters for Republicans.