Republicans urge extending CR as Senate looks to pass omnibus

The Senate will take up a $410 omnibus fiscal 2009 spending bill on Monday in an effort to meet a Friday deadline for sending the measure to President Obama for his signature.

"We are going to move to the omnibus spending bill, which is a bill to fund government until Oct. 1," the beginning of the next fiscal year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said on the floor before securing an agreement from Republicans to consider the measure, which was approved by the House last week.

The omnibus includes the nine fiscal 2009 appropriations bills Congress has not approved. Three of the appropriations bills -- Defense, Military Construction-VA and Homeland Security -- were included with the continuing resolution Congress passed in September. The CR, which funds federal programs covered by the nine bills at fiscal 2008 levels, expires Friday.

Reid said that "Monday would give us an opportunity for people to offer amendments and we would be able to have those votes prior to the regular caucus luncheon on Tuesday."

Senate Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Lisa Murkowski and her fellow Alaskan, Democratic Sen. Mark Begich, plan to offer an amendment on Monday that would require a normal notice and public comment period before the Interior and Commerce departments can rescind a Bush administration rule that limited protection for polar bears under the Endangered Species Act.

"We're not saying they can't eventually do that, but we think it should go through the appropriate process," a Murkowski spokesman said.

While the Bush Interior Department last year listed the polar bear as a threatened species, it issued a rule in December that bars the Endangered Species Act from being used to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants to protect the bears.

The omnibus bill would allow Interior and Commerce to rescind that rule within 60 days. Republicans have criticized the omnibus language for allowing the polar bears' threatened status to force the federal government to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

If the Senate adopts any amendment, the bill would have to be approved by the House again before it could be sent to Obama, which would be difficult given the Friday deadline.

If the bill cannot pass, they would have to extend the CR to prevent a government shutdown and allow time to finish work on the omnibus.

Many Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have been critical of the package and questioned its need given that the $787 billion economic stimulus package was just signed into law. They have urged Democratic leaders to freeze spending at fiscal 2008 levels and extend the CR.

On Friday, House Republican leaders sent a letter to Obama urging him to veto the bill.

"We side with the American people who are tired of business-as-usual with Washington's out-of-control spending habits," the letter said. "Our nation's families and small businesses are being forced to make sacrifices and cut down on spending and we believe, so should government. American taxpayers deserve better."

Meanwhile, the House might try again to pass legislation allowing bankruptcy judges to modify home mortgages, including reducing the principal of a loan. Reservations among House New Democrats and the Blue Dog Coalition forced House leaders to pull the measure from the floor last week. It was unclear at the time of publication if the measure will be returned to the Rules Committee to address their concerns or not, although Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Fla., a prominent Blue Dog, said late last week it was his understanding the bill would return to Rules.

The Senate meets Monday at 2 p.m. to begin consideration of the omnibus appropriations bill.

The House meets Monday at 12:30 p.m. for morning hour and 2 p.m. to consider suspension bills. Votes will be postponed until 6:30 p.m.