The vote was 318-109, with Arkansas’ four representatives, all Republicans, supporting the measure.
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Congress gave final approval Friday to one of the most ambitious legislative packages in years – a $1.1 trillion funding bill, up to $680 billion in tax breaks and dozens of other substantial policy initiatives.
Yet few conservatives were complaining about Ryan himself, and many lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats alike, proudly touted the accomplishments achieved since the new speaker was sworn in, 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. “I think it’s a good working relationship”, Obama said. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, voted against. Or, as Hillary Clinton proposed, roll back tax breaks that primarily benefit the rich?
“If anyone needed more evidence of why the American people are suffering at the hands of their own government, look no further than the budget deal announced by Speaker Ryan”, Trump, the GOP front-runner, said in a statement. The omnibus created some unlikely allies, with those who voted against the bill including Republican presidential candidate Sen. “These bills always require a majority of the Democratic party to help pass it, therefore it is a bill they genuinely like”.
In a letter Thursday urging fellow Democrats to support the spending bill, Pelosi wrote, “Personally, I was dismayed by Republicans’ insistence on lifting the oil export ban”.
“Getting the appropriations bill is huge, just having to live under a CR and all the uncertainty that comes with that”, House Armed Services ranking member Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., said. The House passed each bill separately, but the Senate combined the bills into on before voting.
The spending and tax package will now be sent to President Barack Obama, who has indicated he will sign it into law. The Senate then approved the omnibus 65 to 33, with the backing of both Minnesota senators, sending the package to President Obama’s desk. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said the omnibus was “critical” to defense for its support of ongoing operations and acquisition programs essential to the future of the military. Because the bill addresses many issues that the right has been pushing for for years, though, such as ending the ban on the export of petroleum, a ban that no longer makes sense now that the United States is a net oil producer, though, efforts to organize and real opposition to the bill were destined to fail from the start.
Asked on Thursday whether she could provide the votes to get the deal through on Friday, Pelosi replied flatly: “no”.
The most significant policy change in the legislation is an end to the forty-year ban on American crude-oil exports, which Democrats agreed to in return for an extension of solar- and wind-energy-industry tax credits.
Other extended tax cuts include breaks for some teachers, commuters, timber investors, electric vehicles and makers of hard cider drinks. A number of them would be made permanent, including those for business research and development, small business expenses, individual deductions for state and local sales taxes, and financing rules for multinational corporations.
That was an echo of the 2013 controversy over the IRS’ admission that it subjected conservative groups seeking that status to unfairly tough investigations. The president invited Ryan to dinner at the White House in the new year. A tax on medical devices would be suspended for two years, a levy on health insurers would stop for one year and, in a victory for unions, a tax on higher-cost insurance policies would be postponed two years until 2020.
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The overall tax and spending agreement has broader bipartisan support in the Senate. There are no riders, for example, that target the Dodd-Frank Wall Street financial reform law or environmental regulations, and there is no campaign finance provision that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, had been pushing.
