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The House and Senate are rushing to send President Barack Obama the massive budget package that would fund the entire government through September 2016. Obama has promised to sign the measure, but it must first overcome some resistance. House Democrats are upset over a victory for big oil, while tea party lawmakers say it spends too much money. (12/18)

The dynamics on the spending bill are far different than those of the tax measure, and at this time, passage is far from assured. The Capitol isn't in full panic yet, but there does appear to be a rising level of concern on the Democratic side of the aisle that they will be short the votes needed to pass the omnibus spending bill. (Sherman, Bresnahan and French, 12/17)

A rider in the federal spending bill creates a significant obstacle to the District’s ability to assess and spend excess surplus dollars collected by the Washington region’s largest health insurer. District insurance regulators last year ordered CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield to spend $56 million out of its billion-dollar cash reserves on local community health needs, effectively upholding a D.C. law passed in 2009 that required assessments of the company’s surplus dollars every three years. (Hauslohner, 12/17)

Congress is scheduled to vote on a $1.1 trillion spending bill Friday that would avert a government shutdown until next October and fund almost all federal activities. But like just about any bill in Congress, this one's full of little goodies and pet projects that can have a big effect on medical research and health and science policies. (Fox, 12/17)

The administration also reiterated its view that reforms to Puerto Rico's Medicaid system should be put in place to help relieve budgetary pressures and again called on lawmakers to make the island's residents eligible for the Earned-Income Tax Credit for low- and moderate-income individuals. (12/17)