HILL TAX BRIEF: Spending Crunch Could Distract from Tax Talk

Congress is faced with preventing a partial government shutdown this week, potentially overshadowing work on advancing the House-passed $78 billion tax bill that awaits Senate action.

House lawmakers arrive back in Washington on Wednesday and will have little time to pass four of the dozen annual government-funding bills by a March 1 deadline or pass another stopgap measure. Eight more bills—including the one that funds the IRS—expire on March 8. The Senate is scheduled to take its first vote on Monday at about 5:30 p.m. Read more: BGOV Hill Watch: Capitol Hill Braces for Next Funding Countdown

Until government funding ...