Republicans and Democrats have struck a deal on a $1.1 trillion budget bill and a major tax extender package that will fund the government through most of the 2016 election cycle, give some certainty on taxes and end the risk of a holiday government shutdown.
Ryan announced the deal Tuesday night during a special GOP conference meeting during the nationally televised Republican presidential debate in Las Vegas.
Republicans managed to secure a few wins in the negotiations, including lifting the ban on exporting domestic crude oil and placing a two-year delay on Obamacare’s medical device tax. Democrats managed to use their leverage to rid the legislation of language making it harder for refugees to come to the United States and they secured a five-year extension of renewable energy tax credits.
Democrats and Republicans also agreed to delay the implementation of Obamacare’s Cadillac tax, which would have imposed a levy on some higher end health care insurance policies.
“While not getting everything we wanted, the speaker noted that both packages include many provisions that Republicans have long fought for,” Ryan’s spokesman AshLee Strong said in a statement describing his meeting with the conference. “The speaker noted that though there are significant wins in these packages, we must not repeat this process and instead get back to regular order in 2016.”
The omnibus was supposed to be released last week, but ongoing negotiations over policy riders delayed a final deal.
Now Republican and Democratic leaders must rally their respective conferences around the proposal to pass it before members can head home for the holidays next week. House Republicans are expected to vote on the proposal Thursday, according to a report in the Hill.
The legislation has not been dropped publicly yet.
