What's in, what's out of bill to avert government shutdown

WASHINGTON (AP) — The short-term spending bill to prevent the government from shutting down is, to be honest, the only thing lawmakers really have to do before exiting Washington for the fall campaign.

[...] Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., opted for a stripped-down approach, shorn of most add-ons, though he approved a $500 million down-payment on flood aid to Louisiana — a move that upset Democrats demanding money for Flint.

Republicans have dropped contentious provisions to block anti-Zika funds from going to Planned Parenthood affiliates in Puerto Rico and ease Clean Water Act rules on pesticide spraying.

Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, and the state's GOP-dominated congressional delegation have won $500 million in community development grants to help Louisiana recover from last month's devastating floods.

The bill retains a top McConnell priority, to block the SEC from requiring corporations to disclose political spending permitted under the Supreme Court's 2010 decision allowing unlimited political spending by businesses.

Many House Republicans are opposed to the idea of an earmark to help Flint, but the state's Republican governor shares responsibility for the city's problems, and it's a hot political topic in a state that GOP nominee Donald Trump hopes to reclaim from Democrats.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump both demanded that the measure include a provision to block the U.S. government from transferring the U.S. Commerce Department's role in governing the internet's domain name addressing systems to a nonprofit consortium known as ICANN.