Last week, Congress passed a stop gap measure to fund the government at current levels through Dec. 22. With the time crunch of the tax bill, there will not be enough time to pass an Omnibus spending package containing anything more than a simple funding extension to get us into the New Year.

House Republicans want to add a full Department of Defense Appropriations bill. Senate Democrats can block spending bills and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has a letter signed by 44 Democrats opposing that strategy. Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Thune (R-SD) has said that the Conference will have to deal with the Democrats in the spending bill. "They're going to have their priorities and issues that they want to have addressed in the spending bill, too," he said.

Sen. Schumer said Tuesday that his members are willing to make "a significant investment" in border security measures in exchange for Republicans agreement to protect immigrant "Dreamers" from deportation. However, Republicans insisted that any immigration deal must be passed separately from spending legislation.

Retiring Congressman Charlie Dent (R-PA), a senior appropriator, said the Senate is sure to strip out the defense funding provision and send it back to the House as a simple stopgap. "It's going to happen," he said. "And then there will be disappointment and drama and yelling and screaming. And we'll avoid a shutdown before Dec. 22."