Senate Republicans set to battle amongthemselves over earmarks in the governmentfunding package

Senate Republicans are set to battle amongthemselves over earmarks in the government fundingpackage that needs to pass by Friday to avoid a partialgovernment shutdown. Conservatives have alreadypressured colleagues to pull out an earmark for anLGBTQ group that allegedly hosted sex parties. Senateconservatives will try to strip more earmarks from thebill, but if they succeed, it would require the legislationto go back to the House before the Friday deadline,creating a headache for congressional leaders.