WASHINGTON — Republicans in the U.S. Senate continue to work on a plan to pass a batch of appropriations bills to take pressure off the Jan. 30 deadline to keep the federal government funded, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said Thursday.

Passing the bills — for Defense; Health, Labor and Education; Interior; Transportation; and Commerce, Justice — in addition to the full-year appropriations bills covering the legislative branch, military construction, Veterans Affairs, agriculture, rural development and the Food and Drug Administration passed in November — would account for 90% of government funding, Capito said.

"Hopefully we will next week," Capito said during her weekly call with state media. "The plan that I mapped out two weeks ago is still the plan. It may take until January to pass the

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