GOP scrambles for votes as conservatives, liberals balk at $1.1T spending bill

The IRS takes a $300 million cut and the EPA’s staffing is reduced to levels not seen since the 1980s under the $1.1 trillion spending bill written by congressional negotiators, and which GOP leaders are pleading with their members to support ahead of key showdown votes this week.

House leaders hope those moves will keep Republicans in line behind the spending bill, which makes some dents in programs the GOP wanted to target, but does not cancel President Obama’s temporary deportation amnesty, instead pushing that fight into next year.