Note: Senator Tester's mandated logging bill, the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act, was attached to this massive $1.3 Trillion omnibus spending bill, which now appears dead, according to breaking news out of DC.
Democrats abruptly drop spending fight
By Andy Sullivan
SNIPS:
Democrats abruptly abandoned a fight over spending on Thursday and said they would instead extend government funding on a temporary basis, a move that gives Republicans a greater chance to enact the deep cuts they have promised.
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said nine Republicans had agreed to back the bill, which likely would have given him enough votes to pass it. But Republican support evaporated in recent days, he said.
"In reality we only have one choice, and that's a short term" funding bill, Reid said on the Senate floor.
