Lawmakers find common ground on $1T spending bill

Top Capitol Hill negotiators are reporting progress toward a longsought agreement on a massive $1 trillion-plus spending bill that would fund the day-to-day operations of virtually every federal agency through Oct. 1.

Aides say lawmakers closely involved in the talks have worked through many sticking points in hopes of making the measure public as early as Sunday night.

The House and Senate have until Friday at midnight to pass the measure to avert a government shutdown. The catchall spending bill would be the first major piece of bipartisan legislation to advance during President Donald Trump’s short tenure in the White House. It denies Trump a win on his oft-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, but gives him a down payment on his request to strengthen the military.

It also rejects White House budget director Mick Mulvaney’s proposals to cut popular programs such as funding medical research and community development grants.

Most of the core decisions about agency budgets have been worked out, but unrelated policy issues — such as a Democratic request to help the cash-strapped government of Puerto Rico with its Medicaid burden — were among the final holdups.

The aides required anonymity because the talks are not final and the measure has yet to be released.

Democrats have denied Trump a big-picture win on obtaining an initial down payment for his oft-promised border wall with Mexico, while anti-abortion lawmakers didn’t even attempt to use the must-pass measure to try to cut off federal money for Planned Parenthood.