A massive bill to fund the government for the rest of fiscal 2012 today sank into a partisan mire as Democratic and GOP leaders jostled over the latter camp's bid to link the controversial Keystone XL pipeline to a White House-backed payroll tax extension.

At issue is the omnibus appropriations package that sets 2012 budgets for U.S. EPA, the Energy Department and other agencies -- as well as Republican riders that aim to restrict an array of Obama administration environmental policies, from stormwater discharge regulations to emissions limits for industrial boilers. Public release of a bipartisan omnibus accord, initially expected last night, slipped from later today into limbo as the GOP accused Senate Democrats of withholding their approval for the bill until the payroll tax debate is resolved.

"I'm hopeful that the Senate leaders will come to their senses, allow members to sign this [omnibus conference] report, and to move forward," House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters this morning. "There's no reason to hold this bill up."

The House is expected to pass legislation later today that extends President Obama's payroll tax cut for workers and unemployment insurance (UI) benefits while also fast-tracking the Canada-to-U.S. Keystone XL pipeline and rolling back EPA emissions limits for boilers.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) today slammed those environmental add-ons as "ideological candy" that "is not going to sell here," acknowledging in a floor speech that he told Boehner: "We're not going to finish the work for our country this year unless we work together."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blasted the shotgun marriage of the omnibus and payroll tax debates -- given heightened urgency by the Friday expiration of current government funding -- as "irresponsible" and "reckless."

McConnell accused Reid in a floor speech of "ask[ing] his members to hold off on signing the government-funding legislation they've already agreed to -- just to hand the president what they view as a political victory this week."

The lead sponsor of a Senate bill similar to the Republican Keystone XL plan, which would prod the State Department to sign off on the $7 billion oil sands crude pipeline within 60 days, also hit out at the Obama administration today for stating that the House GOP proposal would effectively deny the project a permit (E&E Daily, Dec. 13).

"The president and State Department can try to duck its responsibility to America's workers," Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) said in a statement. "The only way the pipeline will not be permitted under our legislation is if the president himself rejects it."

As Boehner's lieutenants worked to lock down votes for the payroll tax-UI bill, however, their arguments that Reid and his allies are slowing the omnibus to gain leverage in that fight were undercut last night by suggestions from Democratic appropriators that the debate over environmental riders is less than fully resolved.

Rep. Norm Dicks of Washington, the House Appropriations Committee's top Democrat, told reporters last night that there are "a few things left still of concern" and described two EPA policy limits -- one affecting the boiler rule and another hitting mountaintop-removal mining regulations -- as only provisionally out of the omnibus (E&E Daily, Dec. 13).

Dicks' fellow Democratic appropriators echoed that sentiment today, posting on their Twitter feed that "there are still open issues on the conference report that haven't been resolved" and stating that the agreement has yet to be assembled or scored by the Congressional Budget Office.

Among the GOP-backed riders that could be slowing down eleventh-hour omnibus talks is House-passed language that would prevent the Energy Department from implementing a controversial set of light bulb efficiency standards set to start taking effect on Jan. 1.

The issue sparked controversy earlier this year as House Republicans launched an aggressive campaign against the standards that require light bulbs to be about 30 percent more efficient by the end of this year and 65 percent more efficient by 2020. The standards were first approved in a sweeping 2007 energy law.

Republicans paint the standards as a ban on incandescent light bulbs and cite them as an example of government overreach. But supporters of the standards say they do not ban traditional incandescent bulbs, adding that they are crucial to saving energy and spurring investment in more energy-efficient lighting options.

Reporter Katie Howell contributed.