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Some analysts are wondering
if Democratic leaders and appropriators are planning to dovetail the
omnibus with the recently enacted
economic stimulus
package by adding another round of funding for key White House
initiatives such as alternative energy research. Others are speculating whether the omnibus
will be the vehicle for upcoming economic recovery measures such as a
housing aid bill. As lawmakers recover from the hangover of debating the
economic stimulus package during this week's break, these questions will
probably not be answered until the text of the omnibus is unveiled.
In January, Senate Minority
Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) told ABC's This Week that much of
the spending contained in the stimulus bill would have easily passed
within an omnibus appropriations bill on a "bipartisan basis."
However, McConnell
is now waiting to review the omnibus before making any decisions on
legislative strategy, including whether to propose scaling
back some of the spending items that were funded in the stimulus
package.
At least one GOP lawmaker has
acknowledged that attempting to trim spending for programs that received
funding in the stimulus would likely backfire politically. After noting
the billions in additional dollars for Pell grants and other education
initiatives last week, Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) said on the Senate floor
that lawmakers would be "kidding" themselves if they believe these
programs would be returned to their pre-stimulus funding levels. "If we
try to go back to that [Pell grant] funding level we will be accused of
trying to make college unaffordable," Enzi predicted.
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