White House chief of staff Denis McDonough materialized in the Capital basement Thursday evening to attempt to persuade House Democrats to back the $1 trillion cromnibus spending bill that would fund the government through September.

The president officially offered his support to the spending package on Thursday afternoon, though the administration said it opposed a rider in the bill that repeals a provision of the Dodd-Frank financial-reform legislation.

Democratic congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton told reporters that McDonough reminded the Democratic conference that, come January, they would have less leverage over the bill. In January, of course, Republicans assume control of the Senate. “But you know that that’s what he would say and that’s probably the case and people have to do a cost-benefit analysis,” Norton told reporters.

In all likelihood, the fate of the bill rests on how many Democrats McDonough and the White House can bring over to their side.