Time runs short for $1.1 trillion spending plan

WASHINGTON (AP) — With time running short, Republicans and Democrats reached for elusive agreement today on a $1.1 trillion spending bill to avoid a government shutdown and delay a politically charged struggle over President Barack Obama's new immigration policy until the new year.

As obstacles to a deal dwindled, officials said the outcome was uncertain for an emerging plan that would permit benefit cuts for as many as 1.5 million retirees at economically distressed multiemployer pension plans.

"The federal government's going to run out of money in two days. ... We've been trying to work with Republican leaders to avoid a shutdown," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said in midafternoon as final negotiations dragged on.

The GOP high command said they wanted nothing of the kind, and Speaker John Boehner said he expected a vote in the House on the spending bill by Thursday. Failing that, officials said they would prepare a short-term measure to assure uninterrupted operations of government for a day or two to provide enough time for the larger bill to clear both houses.