House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday defended the $1.01 trillion spending bill unveiled by lawmakers, saying that the measures tacked on to it "have been worked out in a bipartisan, bicameral fashion," NBC News reported. Critics say that congressional leaders should not have inserted language that would effectively overturn the District of Columbia's recent legalization of marijuana and would dramatically raise donation limits for the political parties. Those measures would likely be extremely contentious if debated as separate bills, but they are overwhelmingly likely to pass as part of a last-minute spending package to avert a government shutdown. The House is expected to vote on the bill on Thursday.
