Democratic leaders, Nancy Pelosi of California in the House and Harry Reid of Nevada in the Senate, complained about lifting the four-decade-old ban on exporting crude oil and the legislation’s failure to address Puerto Rico’s fiscal woes, which Ryan pledged to tackle next year instead.
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The sweeping spending bill will keep the government funded through September 2016, while the tax measure will make a number of tax breaks permanent, extend dozens of expired tax incentives and reigns in the power of the IRS.
The sprawling measure, which also extends several tax exemptions worth more than 600 billion and that critics warn will increase the national debt, easily passed the Senate 65 votes to 33 shortly after clearing the House earlier Friday as the last major acts of Congress before year-end holidays.
While Republicans voted almost in lockstep for the tax measure, it split Democrats, who opposed it by 106-77.
Marco Rubio of Florida was the only senator running for president who missed the Senate vote.
It’s a peaceful end in the House to a yearlong struggle over the budget, taxes, and Republican demands of President Barack Obama.
Friday’s action promises to finish up a surprisingly productive, bipartisan burst of late-session legislation in a divided Congress.
He states that Congress used continuing resolutions to fund the government for many years but, not doing his homework, again he didn’t mention Congress was under Democratic control from 2007 until the election of 2010 so January 2011 the Republicans took control of the House and put up a budget proposal that Sen.
They did so via a convoluted, backwards disapproval process that was created to fail, and then did nothing to prevent the deal’s implementation or stop more than $100 billion from going to Iran and its terror proxies.
The vote concluded a wild 2015 that was driven largely by tea party lawmakers pushing for showdowns with Obama on immigration, Planned Parenthood and the president’s health law.
The measure reverses automatic “sequester” cuts that were set to take effect for most government spending, and will boost funds for the Pentagon and domestic programs, including cancer research and college Pell Grants.
In the House, 150 Republicans and 166 Democrats voted for the measure, while 95 Republicans and 18 Democrats opposed it. Ryan relied on Democratic votes to help pass the measure as Boehner often had to do.
Representative Joe Barton of Texas, the lead Republican pushing oil export legislation in the House, said, “There are a lot of Republicans upset by what is not in the bill, there are a lot of Democrats who are upset because of what is in the bill”.
“It’s not ideal, and we certainly didn’t get everything that we wanted”, McConnell said of the budget compromise.
Republican Congressman Robert Pittenger, who voted for the spending bill, said the provision ending the ban on oil exports will echo around the world.
The bill increases defense spending, which Republicans said was critical given the level of unrest in the Middle East and the increased specter of terrorism.
Legislation funding the government and providing billions of dollars in tax breaks has cleared both the House and Senate, averting another government shutdown.
Votes from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and Congressional Black Caucus were “key, because it was believed the GOP could provide only about 100 votes for the deal so Democrats would need to provide the rest to make it to the necessary 218 vote threshold”.
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Other extended tax cuts include breaks for some teachers, commuters, timber investors, electric vehicle owners and makers of hard cider drinks. People in the seven states without income taxes could deduct local sales taxes on their federal returns.
