down to the wire

[Romel Panzer]

(1) What is "down to the wire" inthesentence: N-deal down to the wire, dealyed by pet bills in the U.S. Senate,

(2) meaning of "Pet Bill" in the above sentence.

[Mister Micawber]

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Down to the wire = full of suspense; especially : unsettled until the very end.

Pet bills = those pieces of proposed legislation that are favoured / particularly supported by individual lawmakers.
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[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by rameshpahwa

(1) What is "down to the wire" inthesentence: N-deal down to the wire, dealyed by pet bills in the U.S. Senate,

(2) meaning of "Pet Bill" in the above sentence.

"Down to the wire" is an idiom that came form racing (probably horse racing). When a race is very close, the outcome can't be predicted until one (nose) reaches the "wire" at the finish line.