This rare instance of bipartisanship and compromise will prevent a government shutdown, one that seemed inevitable earlier this fall. “There are some really good wins in here for the American people. But it is a budget that, as I insisted, invests in our military and our middle class without ideological provisions that would have weakened Wall Street reform or rules on big polluters”. “I think it’s legislation worth supporting”. He pointed to an overhaul of USA prison sentences and a 12-nation Asia-Pacific trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, as two issues he hopes lawmakers will address in 2016. That would set the stage for passage Friday of a companion bill providing $1.1 trillion to finance government in 2016, leaving only Senate action before the 2,200-page bundle goes to President Barack Obama.
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The House approved the spending package 316 to 113, with 150 Republicans joining 166 Democrats to vote yes. The package is on its way to President Obama’s desk for his signature. “I believe him”, Rep. Dave Brat, Virginia Republican and member of the House Freedom Caucus that nudged Mr. Boehner out of town, said Thursday. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky rejected the deal, while Sen.
The vote is not “a function of the spending bill but… a courtesy to the new speaker”, said Huelskamp, who voted against the bill.
Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican running for president, missed the vote, later telling CBS News that “in essence, not voting for it is a vote against it”. He did, however, release a statement in opposition to the bill, calling it an example of a “broken Washington”. Only six Democrats and Independent Bernie Sanders, another presidential hopeful, voted against the measure.
“These citizens need and deserve the support of their government to get through this hard period, and it is Congress’ responsibility to give them the same tools available to all the states”, he added.
Obama called Ryan after the vote to thank him “for helping government work”, he said.
The spending measure includes some major policy provisions, including a lifting of the 40-year ban on crude oil exports and the re-authorisation and expansion of benefits from emergency workers suffering from health problems related to their work responding to the September 11 attack in New York City.
But they boasted of using their leverage, veto threats from Obama and the GOP’s craving to lift the oil export ban to extract numerous concessions from Republicans, including five-year extensions of solar and wind tax credits, a top goal for Reid.
The Obama administration has expressed particular satisfaction that, after weeks of tense negotiations, it succeeded in fending off numerous policy amendments that Republicans had sought to attach to the spending bill, including efforts to block environmental and labor rules.
On Thursday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, said she would vote in favor of the bill, but said she wasn’t confident she could push it over the finish line with Democratic votes if it needed them.
The measure contains large spending boosts for veterans and medical research, and funds a familiar roster of grants for transportation projects, first responders and community development. And the $622 billion tax measure makes permanent dozens of popular but costly credits and deductions that help both businesses and low-income individuals and families.
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The legislation does, however, incorporate a bipartisan push to limit certain travel privileges granted to citizens of 38 friendly foreign countries that are allowed to enter the USA without obtaining a visa.
