WASHINGTON (AP) – The House is advancing hard-fought legislation to help Flint, Michigan, fix its lead-tainted water system and speed next year’s confirmation for retired Gen. James Mattis as President-elect Donald Trump’s defense secretary.
Those provisions, and more, are catching a ride on a must-do spending measure to keep the government running through April, along with $10 billion in supplemental war funding and $4 billion more for disaster relief for Louisiana and other states. The government would shut down at midnight on Friday if the measure does not pass.
Also on deck is separate legislation to authorize water projects that has sparked a major battle between environmentalists and agricultural interests over legislation to allow more of California’s limited water resources to flow to Central Valley farmers hurt by the state’s lengthy drought.
The two measures are the last major items on the House agenda before lawmakers leave for the year, capping a tumultuous, often bitter two-year session of Congress.
A conservative rebellion booted Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, from office last year. Democrats staged an overnight sit-in on the House floor protesting the GOP-led Congress’ inaction on gun control. Senate Republicans refused to let Obama fill a Supreme Court vacancy after Justice Antonin Scalia died last February.