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The U.S. Senate on Saturday passed a $1.1 trillion spending bill that lifts the threat of a government shutdown. Rough cut (no reporter narration)
Video provided by Reuters Newslook
The Capitol Dome and the Capitol Christmas Tree are illuminated in Washington late on Dec. 11.(Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP)
WASHINGTON — The Senate on Saturday approved a $1.1 trillion spending bill and sent it to President Obama for his signature.
The 56-40 vote on the long-term funding bill was the main item left on Congress' year-end agenda. The measure provides money for nearly the entire government through the Sept. 30 end of the current budget year.
The sole exception is the Department of Homeland Security, which is funded only until Feb. 27. Republicans intend to try then to force the president to roll back a new immigration policy that removes the threat of deportation from millions of immigrants living in the country illegally.
The compromise bill had faced opposition from Democratic liberals upset about the repeal of a banking regulation and Republican conservatives unhappy that it failed to challenge Obama's immigration moves.
The Senate — which convened in a rare weekend session — passed a temporary spending bill earlier Saturday, funding the government through Wednesday and giving legislators more time to consider the $1.1 trillion measure.
The House narrowly approved the funding bill by a 219-206 vote Thursday, hours before government funding was set to run out.
USA TODAY
House approves $1 trillion spending package
Some Senate Democrats and Republicans opposed the measure because of provisions that would ease Wall Street regulations and campaign finance laws. Obama has said he supports the bill.
On Friday, conservative Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, blocked efforts to prevent a weekend session in the Senate. Cruz and other conservatives have complained about Obama's immigration executive order and want to use the spending bill to defund efforts to implement it.
USA TODAY
Spending bill shines light on Democratic unrest
In an exchange on the Senate floor Saturday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and Democratic Majority Whip Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois blamed the delay on Cruz.
Durbin asked whether Cruz was also the senator who shut down the government last year in protest over the Affordable Care Act.
"The very same man,'' Reid replied. "Now he's hung up not only on the Affordable Care Act, but the president's action to give 5 million people relief in this country so that they can come out of the shadows and make our country a more productive place.''
USA TODAY
Obama urges Senate to pass budget plan
Cruz, a potential presidential candidate in 2016, said Reid was "going to an embarrassing length to tie up the floor to obstruct debate and a vote on this issue because he knows amnesty is unpopular with the American people, and he doesn't want the Democrats on the record as supporting it."
The Saturday session began at noon, and senators spent much of the day considering a slew of nominees for judicial and administration posts.
Contributing: The Associated Press
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