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House, Senate rush to send huge budget and tax deal to Obama

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. updates reporters on Democratic reaction to the bipartisan $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Upset with GOP efforts in lifting a ban on U.S. oil exports, Pelosi suggested there might not be enough Democratic votes to push it through the chamber. Congressional leaders hope to ship both bills, a 2,200-page legislative bundle, to President Barack Obama on Friday for his promised signature and adjourn for the year. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. updates reporters on Democratic reaction to the bipartisan $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Upset with GOP efforts in lifting a ban on U.S. oil exports, Pelosi suggested there might not be enough Democratic votes to push it through the chamber. Congressional leaders hope to ship both bills, a 2,200-page legislative bundle, to President Barack Obama on Friday for his promised signature and adjourn for the year. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of Calif. updates reporters on Democratic reaction to the bipartisan $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015, during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Upset with GOP efforts in lifting a ban on U.S. oil exports, Pelosi suggested there might not be enough Democratic votes to push it through the chamber. Congressional leaders hope to ship both bills, a 2,200-page legislative bundle, to President Barack Obama on Friday for his promised signature and adjourn for the year. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

By Associated Press 4 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – The House and Senate are rushing to send President Barack Obama a massive budget package that would fund the entire government through September 2016 and shower tax breaks on working families, businesses and a wide swath of special interests.

Friday’s votes promise to finish up a surprisingly productive, bipartisan burst of late-session legislation in a divided Congress.

Obama has promised to sign the measure, but it must first overcome some resistance. House Democrats are upset over a victory for big oil, while tea party lawmakers say it spends too much money and has too few victories for the Republicans controlling Capitol Hill.

It may squeak through the House on a relatively narrow vote. Top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi of California, a key negotiator, swung forcefully behind the measure Thursday evening, despite her ire over its lifting of the four-decade ban on exporting U.S. crude oil – which most Democrats oppose.

“Republicans’ desperate thirst for lifting the oil export ban empowered Democrats to win significant concessions throughout,” Pelosi wrote her Democratic colleagues, citing spending increases for domestic programs, tax breaks for renewable energy, and Democratic success in driving most GOP policy riders from the measure.