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Washington Post
Senate approves
$1.1 trillion spending bill
Ed O'Keefe and Sean Sullivan
The Senate on Saturday night approved a sweeping $1.1 trillion spending
bill to fund most of the federal government through the next fiscal
year, turning back a conservative rebellion against President Obama's
immigration policy.
On a vote of 56 to 40, senators passed the spending bill and sent it to
Obama, who plans to sign it. The bill’s passage eliminates the threat
of a government shutdown and capped days of acrimonious debate on
Capitol Hill over the omnibus agreement.
A small group of conservatives, led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), had
sought to slow debate on the bill by raising concerns with Obama’s
immigration policy, forcing a marathon weekend session. The move
infuriated their colleagues, particularly Republicans who complained
that forcing senators to stay in session produced nothing positive for
the GOP and only helped Democrats in their bid to approve a final batch
of Obama’s nominees for government posts.
For several hours Saturday, senators held procedural votes to begin the
process of confirming dozens of Obama’s nominees for federal judgeships
and top positions at the State Department and other agencies. They also
approved a backstop bill to keep the federal government open through
Wednesday night, if needed.
The move forced members of both parties to abruptly cancel holiday and
retirement festivities back home. Some senators slogged through the
Capitol hallways with young children in tow. Several skipped the
Army-Navy football game in Baltimore. Staffers forced to work
entertained out-of-town guests by giving them rare weekend access to
the Capitol.
Prolonged debate on the spending bill came after Cruz and Sen. Mike Lee
(R-Utah) late Friday night derailed a carefully crafted plan between
party leaders to allow senators to go home for the weekend and return
Monday to approve the spending agreement. The pair had sought to force
a vote on an amendment that would block federal agencies from
implementing the immigration policy changes ordered by Obama last month.
But Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) blocked their request
and angrily clashed with them on the Senate floor, ensuring that debate
on the spending bill would spill into Saturday...
Read the rest of the article at msn.com
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