US House passes bill to fund government, export crude oil

The measure now goes to President Obama, who is expected to sign it into law.

Despite being supported by the White House and leadership in both parties, the legislation represented an awkward compromise by all concerned to keep the government funded and avoid a potential shutdown. “I’m not wowed about everything in it – I’m sure that’s true for everybody – but it is a budget that, as I insisted, invests in our military and our middle class without ideological divisions”.

President Obama signs the budget bill in the Oval Office on Friday.

But they boasted of using their leverage, veto threats from Obama and the GOP’s craving for 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. Together, the two bills would pare taxes by $680 billion over 10 years. Dozens of previously temporary tax breaks, such as the research and development tax credit, will now be permanent.

Republicans won more money for defense spending by ceding to Democrats’ calls to boost domestic budgets. McConnell disagreed with the Democrats’ assertions and maintained the passage of the bill signals the Republican Party’s ability to govern in a divided government.

The spending measure would fund the operations of every Cabinet agency.

“It is going to bust the deficit”.

“We inherited a process, a cake that was pretty much more than half-baked”, Ryan said Thursday. The omnibus created some unlikely allies, with those who voted against the bill including Republican presidential candidate Sen.

The measure received big majorities in the House from Republicans and Democrats.

Architects of the deal worked overtime this week cajoling rank-and-file members on both sides into backing the $1.149 trillion, catch-all bill which came in at more than 2,000 pages. So the political lesson of the omnibus is an old one: in Washington, big business nearly always beats out everyone else. Democrats had wanted the oil provisions to be added to the tax proposal instead.

Despite language being left out of the omnibus making it harder for Syrian refugees to enter the United States or trying to defund Planned Parenthood – two main wants from conservatives – a majority of Republicans still rallied behind the measure.

The legislation, that has been in negotiation since September, now waits for President Obama’s approval.

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.

Republican Congressman Robert Pittenger, who voted for the spending bill, said the provision ending the ban on oil exports will echo around the world.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi had said she was concerned about the tax bill because of “special interest tax breaks”.

Oil producers, including Continental Resources Inc., Pioneer Natural Resources Co. and ConocoPhillips, have been pressing for an end to decades of restrictions on exports of most raw, unprocessed crude oil imposed at a time of shortages in the U.S.

Not everyone was on board.

Not long after, the Senate voted 65-33 to send the entire package to Obama’s desk, and lawmakers began rushing out the Capitol’s exits to catch flights back home with Congress adjourning until January. “I can’t tell you how happy I am, how absolutely happy I am, that first responders will be able to have their health care and know that they have their health care permanently”.