In this Nov. 18, 2014 file photo, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, wraps up a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, following a House GOP caucus meeting. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
This post has been updated
With time running out, the Republican-controlled House moved closer Wednesday to passing a $1.01 trillion spending bill, as House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) vowed to prevent the government from shutting down.
"Tomorrow, we'll pass a responsible bill that keeps the government running," Boehner told reporters at a press conference after emerging from a closed-door meeting with the GOP Conference in the basement of the Capitol.
But emerging resistance from the political left on Wednesday afternoon complicated the bill's ultimate outlook. Some liberal Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), railed against a provision that would change the way big banks are regulated.
Boehner and his leadership team presented the bill to GOP members as a chance to force a showdown with President Obama over his executive actions on immigration next year, when Republicans control both chambers of Congress. Many conservatives upset over Obama's immigration moves are looking to fight his actions via legislative maneuvers.
"This sets up a direct challenge to the president's unilateral actions on immigration," said Boehner.
Democratic and Republican leaders reached a deal Tuesday on the spending bill that would keep most of the government funded through next September.
Leaders are also preparing a temporary bill to keep the government running for a few days to allow the Senate time to pass the larger legislation.
Notably, the legislation would only fund the Department of Homeland Security through February, which would give Republicans time to formulate a rebuttal Obama for using executive fiat to halt the deportations of millions of undocumented immigrants. DHS is empowered to enforce immigration laws.
Wednesday's GOP huddle did not produce the sort of anger and outrage among rank-and-file Republicans as similar meetings have over the past four years of confrontation with Obama.
One key Republican, Rep. Bill Flores (R-Texas), the incoming chairman of the Republican Study Committee, said the legislation had "a lot of great policy riders" that tempted him to support the bill despite a lack of a clear attack on Obama's immigration actions.
"There's a lot of good stuff in it," Flores, the conservative caucus chairman, said.
Rep. Jim Renacci (R-Ohio), an ally of Boehner's, said that most members seemed impressed with the cuts to budgets for liberal priorities such as the Internal Revenue Service and the Environmental Protection Agency.
"The impression I got was that most people in that room were comfortable with what they heard," Renacci said.
Boehner's leadership team is looking to produce a large majority from GOP ranks -- perhaps resembling the roughly two-thirds majority that supported last December's budget deal crafted by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.). The remaining votes would come from Democrats.
Still, some immigration hard-liners itching for a confrontation remained dissatisfied.
"I feel like the leadership is asking us to punt on first down," said Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.).
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), perhaps the most outspoken opponent of immigration reform in Congress, said, "I think it's better to fight now than it is later."
A bit more than half of the bill -- $521 billion -- would fund military spending, while another $492 billion would fund federal agencies.
The bill is 1,603 pages long and covers a laundry list of Democratic and Republican priorities, including $54 billion to fight Ebola and a provision to allow individuals to increase the amount they can donate to national political parties.
Boehner suggested the Senate was more responsible than the House for packing the bill with provisions spanning very different areas of government.
"Because of, not really issues on the House side, more issues on the Senate side, to facilitate their ability to move legislation, some of this stuff ends up in one bill," he said.
On Wednesday afternoon, the anti-tax Club for Growth urged members of Congress against voting for the bill, claiming "Christmas has come early for the big spenders in Congress."
The bill would also prevent the District of Columbia from legalizing marijuana for much of the next year, despite local voter approval of a ballot measure allowing for limited legalization.
Ed O'Keefe contributed to this post