WASHINGTON (AP) - The House on Thursday cleared bills to keep the government running through April and authorize hundreds of water projects, but a Senate fight over benefits for retired coal miners threatened to lead to a government shutdown this weekend.
House members promptly bolted home for the holidays and will return next month to a capital city in which Republicans will fully control all levers of power, with Donald Trump inaugurated as the nation's 45th president.
The stopgap spending bill passed on a 326-96 vote; the massive water projects measure passed 360-61.
In the Senate, however, Democrats made a last-ditch effort to add two provisions to the bills: a one-year respite for retired coal miners scheduled to lose their health benefits at year's end and a permanent extension of "Buy America" mandates for steel used in the construction of water projects.
"They totally gave the back of their hand to miners," said Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. "Who's for the working people? Where's Donald Trump on miners?"
Sens. Joe Manchin, of West Virginia, and Sherrod Brown, of Ohio, both of whom face re-election in 2018, argued a provision in the spending bill to temporarily extend health care benefits for about 16,500 retired union coal miners is insufficient.
The measure does not protect pension benefits despite President Harry S Truman's 1946 guarantee to miners of lifetime health and retirement benefits.
"We're going to stick together on this, and this is really important to Democrats," Brown said. "And we hope that President-elect Trump, in his words about Buy America and his talk about workers, will help us convince Republicans."
GOP leaders insisted the deal was the best the Democrats could get, heightening the possibility the government could close tonight at midnight.
Democrats' options were limited, especially since the House has closed up shop and won't consider changes to either bill.
The Senate did, however, clear the annual defense policy bill, which authorizes $611 billion to run the military in 2017, provides a 2.1 percent pay hike for the military and again blocks President Barack Obama from delivering on his longstanding campaign pledge to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The vote was 92-7.
The spending bill passed by the House would keep the government running through April 28 and provide $10 billion in supplemental war funding and $4 billion more for disaster relief for Louisiana and other states.
In a win for Trump, the bill would speed up the confirmation process for retired Gen. James Mattis, his choice for defense secretary.
Congress needs to pass legislation to grant Mattis an exception from a law that requires a seven-year wait for former members of the military to serve in the civilian post. The provision would speed up action on the waiver, though Democrats could still filibuster it.