house speaker paul ryan two weeks ago unveiled plans to extend current government spending levels through march. | getty by rachael bade and john bresnahan 11/29/16 01:56 pm est updated 11/29/16 03:18 pm est house republicans may extend a budget stopgap further into next year in order to accommodate the senate<u+2019>s busy nomination schedule in early 2017, republican sources say. speaker paul ryan (r-wis.) two weeks ago unveiled plans to extend current government spending levels through march, allowing president-elect donald trump to have a greater say in agencies<u+2019> fuller 2017 budgets early next year. the short-term budget bill is expected to pass next week. story continued below trump<u+2019>s incoming administration blessed the plan. but now the so-called continuing resolution, or cr, could extend through april, sources say. that<u+2019>s because senate republicans, under majority leader mitch mcconnell of kentucky, are worried that the workload required to confirm trump<u+2019>s cabinet nominations will bleed into the spending debate. they want more time to finish nominations before turning their attention to the fiscal fight and have been pushing for a cr through may instead. a senior house republican said the chamber<u+2019>s gop leadership is looking to see whether it can accommodate the senate. house appropriations committee spokeswoman jennifer hing said no final decision has been made. the pentagon is already pushing back against the prospect of an extended cr, with defense secretary ash carter calling the move "unprecedented and unacceptable" in a letter tuesday to ryan and mcconnell. the pentagon has long maintained that crs are bad for the military because they make it harder to start new weapons programs or shift funds to new battlefield priorities. <u+201c>i urge congress to keep the cr as short as possible and finish full-year appropriations,<u+201d> carter said. <u+201c>the longer the duration of a continuing resolution, the more harm to dod programs and capabilities, and thus, the more harm to our national security.<u+201d> by michael grunwald by bill scher by thomas wright by joshua zeitz
house eyes budget stopgap through april - politico
rachael bade john bresnahan michael grunwald