Major Four-Bill Funding Package Sought by Senate Negotiator

A top Senate negotiator wants a major four-bill spending package — comprising 70% of discretionary spending — on the floor after Thanksgiving, aiming to make as much progress as possible before anticipated shutdown deadlines in January and February.

Senate Appropriations Vice Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) told reporters Wednesday that senators should move ahead with a four-bill package covering Defense, Labor-HHS-Education, Energy and Water, and Commerce-Justice-Science appropriations.

That package would total nearly $1.2 trillion in spending, about 70% of discretionary spending under the Senate’s proposal.

Senate Democrats have yet to sign-on to the idea. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), an appropriator and ...