US House of Representatives to Pass Temporary Budget Bill

WASHINGTON, December 10 (Sputnik) – US House of Representatives is considering a one or two day spending bill to buy time for the Senate to pass a longer term budget, prior to Congress passing a spending bill December 11, a congressional staffer has told Sputnik News Agency.

The House is expected to pass a one or two day extension Tuesday night. That bill will keep the government open beyond Thursday's deadline and allow the Senate to vote on a final bill on Friday or the weekend.

The $1.1 trillion spending bill to fund the government until next September has been slowed down by unrelated riders to the bill, including debate on Monday over legislation to renew a terrorism insurance program. Congress ultimately decided to include the terrorism insurance program in separate legislation in order to move the budget bill forward.

The bill will fund most of the federal government through September, but due to House Republican's resistance to President Barack Obama's executive order on immigration, the Department of Homeland Security will only be funded through early next year. That will allow a Republican controlled House and Senate to revisit the issue and challenge immigration reform next year.

The US budget must be passed by the House and then the Senate before it can be sent to the president's desk for approval.

Last minute wrangling over the budget has been an annual affair. Last year the government was shut down for more than two weeks in October as Congress agreed on neither an annual budget nor short-term funding bill to fund the government.