House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio pauses while holding what may be his last news conference of the 113th Congress, though critical legislation is still pending, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2014, on Capitol Hill in Washington. With a midnight Thursday deadline to keep the government running, a $1.1 trillion government-wide spending bill is teetering as many lawmakers find more in the measure to dislike than like. Boehner expressed confidence the measure would go through and he said he was looking forward to what he called “the new American Congress” that convenes in January with a Republican majority in the House and the Senate. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)