It’s been widely suggested that there was going to have to be some kind of consolidated appropriations bill this year, given that the Senate is bogged down on the health care bill (which I will update tomorrow) leaving it little time to deal with anything else. The main question was what the vehicle would be for the omnibus.
Well, the conference report on H.R. 3288 (formerly Transportation/HUD Appropriations) has been filed, and it’s got six of the seven outstanding appropriations bills. The one bill that doesn’t appear to have been rolled into H.R. 3288 is Defense Appropriations, which I assume will be dealt with separately.
Look for a House vote on consolidated appropriations later in the week.