U.S. lawmakers scramble for spending deal amid oil, clean energy disputes
By David Lawder and Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congressional negotiators scrambled to bridge energy policy differences and strike a deal for a $1.15 trillion spending bill on Tuesday as Democrats sought to extend clean energy incentives and Republicans demanded an end to a 40-year ban on crude oil exports.
Republican leaders said an agreement being negotiated by leaders of both parties would be unveiled on Tuesday night.
House of Representatives Republicans have scheduled a 9 p.m. EST (0200 GMT) strategy session.
But Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid cautioned that disagreement continued over energy provisions, including a Democratic proposal for new commitments for research into rising ocean levels, as well as some matters unrelated to energy.
"We're close to a deal but we're not there yet," Reid told reporters. "We've made it very clear the last few days that crude oil export ban can only be lifted if we make costly investments in energy (to) reduce our carbon emissions."
Earlier, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Congress will need to pass another short-term government funding extension to avoid a federal agency shutdown at midnight on Wednesday, when existing funds expire. This would allow for votes in both the House and Senate on Thursday.
A House Democrat said it was likely that Democrats would win the five-year tax credit for solar and wind power projects they want in exchange for allowing U.S. crude oil exports. But Democrats expected to lose their quest to resume federal medical research into gun violence after a ban of nearly 20 years.
Ryan said both sides had given ground on their initial demands, but full details were not yet available.
Representative Steny Hoyer, the second-ranking House Democrat, said he did not expect the deal to include a Republican plan to tighten screening of Syrians seeking refuge in the United States.
A congressional aide said negotiators were likely to nix a proposal to revise certain legal protections for bondholders, a provision that had been pushed by Reid partly to ease the bankruptcy of casino giant Caesars Entertainment's operating unit.
McConnell also said on Tuesday that Republicans in a companion tax bill were still seeking to make permanent a number of expired temporary tax breaks. Despite strong Democratic opposition, the tax "extenders" bill may be joined with the spending bill for votes in the Senate, he added.
A senior Senate aide said among the breaks expected to achieve permanent status is the popular business tax credit for research and development, which will also be extended to start-up firms and many sole proprietorships.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Additional reporting by Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell; editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Will Dunham and David Gregorio)
