A short-term spending bill appears poised to pass the Senate this week, keeping Congress on track to avoid a government shutdown so lawmakers can head home to spend the next six weeks campaigning.

Final passage of the continuing resolution is expected as soon as today, and amendments will not be considered, a Democratic leadership aide said. Passing an unamended version would send the six-month spending bill directly to the White House for President Obama's signature, without requiring additional action in the House, which passed the CR last week.

However, the bill is facing stiff resistance from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who has mounted a filibuster in an effort to force a vote on an amendment he has authored to strip foreign aid to Pakistan, Libya and Egypt. Negotiations were ongoing last night to find a solution that would be amenable to all sides, but if Paul sticks to his guns it could push a final vote on the CR to the weekend.

The CR is likely to be the last significant piece of legislation the Senate considers before the elections, although Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said yesterday he would like to bring to the floor additional bills, including a tax package extending key breaks for wind energy, biofuels, energy efficiency and other activities as well as a bill expanding public land access for hunters and anglers. It remains to be seen whether those bills could overcome expected Republican objections.

A motion to limit debate on the CR and proceed to passage passed 76-22 yesterday, with 24 Republicans voting to advance the legislation. Only one Democrat, West Virginia's Joe Manchin, voted against the bill. A Manchin spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment on his vote.

The CR would keep the government operating through March 27 at a top-line spending level of $1.047 trillion, about $8 billion above fiscal 2012 levels. Most of the increase was distributed as an across-the-board 0.6 percent bump to agency budgets, although some accounts received additional money, such as an extra $800 million for Interior Department and Forest Service programs for wildfire suppression and $100 million for the U.S. Enrichment Corp.'s controversial uranium enrichment plant in Ohio (E&E Daily, Sept. 13).

The CR also includes language aimed at fixing a spending offset included in this year's transportation bill that would have cost states millions of dollars intended to clean up abandoned mines. The language in the CR ensures that states like West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky will not lose money, but it would leave Wyoming facing a shortfall in the cleanup funds it could claim, drawing objections from the state's lawmakers (E&E Daily, Sept. 14).

Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said he would continue working to undo the change to the abandoned mine land program, although he did not specifically say whether a change would be possible before the CR becomes law.

"We're going to continue to do everything we conceivably can to make sure the people of Wyoming get their money back," Barrasso said in a brief interview yesterday. "This money belongs to the state of Wyoming, and the people of Wyoming, and we're not going to rest until we get it back."