U.S. House strips campaign finance provision from budget bill
AP reports: House Republicans abandoned a last-minute attempt to limit individual political donations to independent organizations Sunday, setting up for passage a military measure that had been stalled by the effort.
GOP leaders had sought to attach the campaign finance legislation to a final defense bill, a move aimed at hampering Democratic-aligned groups such as MoveOn.org that were a powerful voice in 2004 and could threaten GOP candidates next year.
A bipartisan group in the Senate joined House Democrats in criticizing the 11th-hour maneuver and refusing to sign off on the plan.
The standoff had put into question the fate of the bill that sets Pentagon policy and, like a separate defense spending measure, includes a ban on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of foreign terrorism suspects in U.S. custody as well as other restrictions on detainee interrogation and prosecution. -- House GOP drops bid limiting donations to independent groups