White House Opposes Moves to End Crude Oil Exports Ban

The White House said on Tuesday that it continues to oppose legislation that would lift a longstanding ban on U.S. crude oil exports, and urged Republicans to focus on funding the government without attaching unrelated measures ahead of a looming deadline.

But White House spokesman Josh Earnest stopped short of saying that President Barack Obama would veto a government funding bill that included the crude oil measure.

"Our position on that (measure) is firm - we oppose it - but we also oppose other things that have been floated for possible inclusion in the omnibus," Earnest said.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Jeff Mason)