December 21, 2022: -On Tuesday, Congressional leaders released a bipartisan government which funds bill early that includes a rewrite of federal election laws aimed at preventing one more Jan. 6-style attack and choking off avenues for future candidates to steal elections.

They anticipate passing the bill, a product of lengthy negotiations between the two parties, which comes in the days to avoid a government shutdown slated to start this weekend.

The legislation comes just a day after the House’s January 6 committee held its final public meeting, which issues criminal referrals for ex-President Donald Trump. He waged “a multi-part scheme to overturn the results and stop the transfer of power” following losing the 2020 election. But unlike the panel’s, the bill’s provisions would have the force of law.

The huge $1.7 trillion which spends package funds federal agencies through next fall. It includes additional U.S. aid to Ukraine as it fights to hold off Russia in the ongoing war.

The Senate is anticipated to vote first and send the legislation to the House. It could be the previous major bill that passes before Republicans seize control of the House on January 3.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who is courting the votes of anti-spending conservatives to become speaker in the coming year, has sought to torpedo the package and punt the issue until Republicans take control. He has pressured GOP lawmakers to vote against it, forcing Democrats to supply the most votes to pass it in the House. The bill has bipartisan support in the Senate, where it is expected to provide the 60 votes it needs to break a filibuster.

Capitol Hill leaders are starting to attach the election bill and Ukraine aid to ease the process of passage, assuming that the combined package has the votes to pass.

“I’m confident both sides can find things in it that they can enthusiastically support,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday, calling the spending bill “the previous major item on our to-do list” this year before leaving for the holidays. “It’s not going to be everything anybody wanted,” he added.

But Schumer said one more stopgap bill would “leave the country high and dry” and that a state shutdown would be worse.

The bill’s release was delayed by hours over a snag involving language about the location of the FBI’s future headquarters, a matter of contention between Maryland and Virginia. Other items that Democrats were pushing for, such as immigration requirements, cannabis banking measures and a child surcharge credit expansion, were excluded from the deal.