US Govt approves bipartisan spending bill

Included in the budget are tax-extenders that the House Democrats criticized.

Obama has promised to sign the legislation, which includes numerous spending increases he has demanded all year.

The Republicans needed to get the Democrats on board in the House because some of the GOP members were unhappy with where these talks were going and were going to vote against it. They come from the no compromise wing of the party.

Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who is also seeking the Republican presidential nomination, had threatened in an interview on Fox News on Thursday to delay passage of the package.

President Barack Obama quickly signed the measure, praised Ryan for his work and acknowledged the sacrifice of his predecessor as speaker, John Boehner, for also making the accord possible.

Republican Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky voted against it, as did Sen.

The House formally adjourned early Friday afternoon for the year, hours after passing a bipartisan spending package.

“The Democrats unfortunately just learned that they can mistreat him like they mistreated Boehner, which is a really bad thing”, Mr. Labrador said. And 16 million children are living in poverty in this country, but Congress has made a decision to cut food and nutrition services for our most vulnerable and increase the already bloated defense budget. But he said it does not answer all the questions yet either.

“And as Russia occupies Crimea, destabilizes Ukraine, menaces our North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies and bombs US-backed forces in Syria, the omnibus includes a provision allowing a single United States company to spend hundreds of millions of dollars buying Russian-made rocket engines from [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and his cronies”, McCain said. Republicans believe lifting the 40-year ban was the biggest win for their party.

“This legislation is worth supporting”, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, adding, “It’s not ideal and we certainly didn’t get everything we wanted”.

The Senate was also set to approve the legislation, bundled into a single bill, in a fast-track series of votes later.

“This is about job growth. I am very proud of the big vote that we had from our members once they saw what was really, what was actually in the bill”, Pelosi told reporters at a press conference following the House vote. But she cited successes in driving away most GOP policy proposals from the measure. But Pelosi won a commitment from Ryan that the House would address the problem early in the new year, and with her support, all but 18 Democrats supported the spending bill.

The vote in the Senate came after the House passed the bills separately, voting 316 to 113 in favor of the spending bill on Friday after voting 318 to 109 in favor of the tax breaks on Thursday.

“It’s a Trojan horse and we should not be fooled”, said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

The Bill increases defence spending, given the unrest in the Middle East and the increased spectre of terrorism.

The budget pact is the last major item in a late-session flurry of bipartisanship in Washington, including easy passage of long-stalled legislation funding highway programs and a rewrite of education programs.

Still, Ryan got support from more than the 79 Republicans who voted for a two-year budget plan the day before he became speaker. The need to win Obama’s signature helped rid the measure of most of the controversial GOP provisions, including efforts to kill federal money for Planned Parenthood, limit the flow of Syrian refugees and undo dozens of Obama actions on the environment, labor, financial regulation and relations with Cuba.

Veterans and medical research receive spending boosts in the bill, along with funds for transportation projects and emergency first responders. In the omnibus bill, Democrats also fought to include a temporary halt to new Obamacare taxes, including one on medical device manufacturers and another on so-called Cadillac health insurance policies.