The U.S. Capitol. Photographer: Heather Diehl/Getty Images.
The Senate is struggling to keep parts of the federal government from shutting down Saturday by passing a $1.2 trillion 'minibus' spending package.
The minibus package is moving six big spending bills through Congress. One bill in the package includes $191 million in funding for the U.S. Labor Department's Employee Benefits Security Administration, $3.7 billion in funding for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services offices that oversee HealthCare.gov and other Affordable Care Act programs, and two employer pharmacy benefit manager transparency provisions.
Another part of the package would provide $64 billion in funding for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which includes the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement law enforcement agency. Many Democrats in the Senate want the government to agree to impose curbs on ICE immigration enforcement efforts before funding DHS.
Senate leaders and the administration of President Donald Trump have reached a preliminary agreement to put the DHS funding in its own bill, provide two weeks of temporary funding for DHS, and have the Senate vote on the rest of the minibus spending package, including the PBM transparency provisions, separately, according to press reports.
One obstacle is that some Republicans in the Senate, including Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, strongly oppose "earmarks" in the minibus package, or provisions that would provide federal funding for specific projects and programs. Lee came to the Senate floor around 11 p.m. Thursday, when almost no other senators were present in the chamber, to talk about his opposition to earmarks.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has created another obstacle, by putting a hold on consideration of the package over concerns about financial compensation for senators affected by an investigation by Jack Smith, a former federal special counsel. Smith seized the senators' phone records.
The video: The Senate streams its floor proceedings live on the web here.
The Senate is scheduled to convene around 11 a.m. today.
The PBM provisions: One employer PBM provision in the package would require PBMs to give employer health plan sponsors detailed information about prescription plan operations.
A second employer PBM provision nother would require PBMs and other service providers to pass all rebates and other discounts negotiated on to the plan sponsors and plan participants.
A third section would require PBMs that serve Medicare prescription drug plans to provide detailed information for the Medicare drug plan manufacturers.
Legislative mechanics: Members of the House approved the package by a 341-88 vote Jan. 22.
The Senate needs 60 votes to put the package or an alternative on the Senate floor without fear of a filibuster, or an endless round of debate by package opponents.
Senators ended up voting 45-55 Thursday against a motion that would have let the package up on the floor. Opponents of the motion included all Democrats and independents in the Senate, along with eight Republicans.
The list of Republicans opposing consideration included Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
If a revised minibus spending package gets through the Senate, with DHS funding in a separate bill, passing that legislation would require members of the House to approve the DHS funding bill and the new, revised minibus package.
The House was on recess Friday and scheduled to return Monday.
One possibility is that parts of the federal government could shut down over the weekend, when few payments go out, and then reopen with help from passage of at least a short-term funding bill Monday.
In some cases, Congress has used appropriations bills that provide government funding for just a few days or a few weeks to avoid shutdowns.
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