US lawmakers agree on $1.1 trillion spending bill

Congressional negotiators unveiled a $1.1 trillion U.S. spending bill that aims to avoid a government shutdown at midnight on Thursday and delays a politically charged immigration showdown between Republicans and President Barack Obama until February.

As the funding deadline loomed, Republicans successfully negotiated a number of policy provisions into the measure, including easing of regulations ranging from the environment to financial derivatives trading.

There was no immediate reaction from the White House to the bill. Current government spending authority expires at 12:01 a.m. EST on Friday.

The measure was expected to be put to a House of Representatives vote on Thursday. But to enable Senate passage, a short-term extension of one or two days was being prepared, congressional aides said.

'This bill will allow us to fulfill our constitutional duty to responsibly fund the federal government and avoid a shutdown,' House Appropriations Committee Chairman Hal Rogers said in a statement.

The measure largely keeps unchanged fiscal 2015 domestic spending, while adding funds to fight Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria and to fight Ebola in West Africa.

The bill adheres to strict caps negotiated earlier between the White House and deficit- conscious Republicans, and is also salted with Republican policy proposals. As described by unhappy liberals, one would roll back new regulations that prohibit banks from using federal deposit insurance to cover investments on some complex financial instruments.

Elsewhere, there were trade-offs. Republicans won a $60 million cut at the Environmental Protection Agency, and said the agency's workforce would be reduced to the lowest level since 1989. Democrats emerged with increases for enforcement activities at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

"The federal government's going to run out of money in two days. ... We've been trying to work with Republican leaders to avoid a shutdown," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said in midafternoon as final negotiations dragged on.

Speaker John Boehner said he hoped for a vote on the measure on Thursday, and officials expressed confidence they could overcome opposition from Republican lawmakers supported by the ultraconservative tea party movement and ans and avoid a government shutdown.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi issued a statement that said she was hopeful her rank and file could support the bill, but needed to review the final language.

Senate approval would then be required to send it to Obama — one of the final acts of a two-year Congress far better known for gridlock than for accomplishment.

After gaining control of the Senate and adding to their majority in the House in the November elections, Republicans pledged they would prove to Americans that they were ready to govern, not just obstruct the president. They're trying to avoid a repeat of last year's a 16-day partial shutdown in an unsuccessful attempt to overturn Obama's signature health care law — which backfired and led to a big drop in Republican approval ratings.

Wire services