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House passes $1.14 trillion spending bill, sends legislation to Senate

Missouri Republican voted for it; Democrat Claire McCaskill and Arkansas Republicans John Boozman voted against it.

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On Presidential Candidate Senator Marco Rubio: He fell down on this vote by not showing up, He should resign from the Senate! . Twenty-six Republicans, six Democrats and one Independent opposed the deal.

There was concern until earlier this morning that there would not be enough support for the spending bill in the House, but last minute lobbying efforts by leadership secured far more than the needed votes. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky voted against the package, as did Sen.

Friday’s action promises to finish up a surprisingly productive, bipartisan burst of legislation in a divided Congress.

Yet few conservatives were complaining about Ryan, and many lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats alike, proudly touted the accomplishments under the new speaker, including bipartisan bills on highways and education and a two-year budget and debt deal that paved the way for Friday’s spending and tax legislation.

Ryan himself told reporters he fielded a congratulatory call from Obama who thanked him for keeping government working and invited him to dinner at the White House in the new year. Passing a budget successfully marks an early victory for the newly elected House speaker.

“They had discretionary spending under control but we just blew through those”, he said.

The government shut down for 16 days in 2013 when Congress could not agree on a budget. But he said it does not answer all the questions yet either.

“We inherited a process, a cake that was pretty much more than half-baked”, Ryan said Thursday.

Congress then adjourned until January.

“This will have an enormous geopolitical impact”, Pittenger said hours after the final vote. “Let’s vote for it, and may the Force be with us”.

He says Congress still needs to promote job growth and increase wages, and he says he wants to work with lawmakers next year to reform the criminal justice system.

The Senate on Friday passed the two measures at once, also finding significant majorities of both parties in a 65-33 vote.

Many Democrats didn’t like the package because it ended a ban on exporting crude oil and didn’t offer any help to Puerto Rico, which is dealing with some seriously tough financial stuff.

And in what appeared like a warning to Ryan and his party, Pelosi said, “They have the majority”. But she cited successes in driving away most GOP policy proposals from the measure.

Republicans won increases for the military and an end to a ban on exporting US oil.

“This is Washington, D.C., there is no such thing as a ideal bill”, said Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y. Democrats followed Pelosi’s lead and backed the bill by a 166-18 margin.

Republicans pushed a year-end tax-cut compromise toward House passage Thursday as Congress prepared to finish 2015 with a flurry of accomplishment and await the partisan collisions sure to dominate the coming election year.

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At more than 2,000 pages long, the spending portion of the bill funds the government through next September, preventing a shutdown and effectively taking hard budget disputes off the table as the 2016 presidential campaign enters the primary season.

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