Leadership allies reject effort to move funding bill to the right

House leadership allies Wednesday night fought off a last-ditch attempt to add conservative provisions to the $1.1 trillion spending package that would have driven away Democratic votes.

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The powerful Rules Committee, which decides how exactly a bill will be structured on the floor, rejected a suite of amendments from the House Freedom Caucus that focused on a range of topics, from national security and abortion to environmental regulations While the nearly 40-member Freedom Caucus wasn’t expected to take a formal position on the legislation, the rejection of the group’s amendments will give its members yet another reason to vote against the massive, year-end omnibus bill that funds the government for much of 2016. More...