House approves $1.1 trillion government funding bill, Senate passage expected

In a media release after the vote, Democratic Representative Dave Loebsack said, “By passing this bill, Congress has ended the constant threat of a Republican government shutdown that the nation has been facing”.

Senators later easily passed the measure and sent it to President Barack Obama who was expected to sign it before leaving on vacation. It contains large spending boosts for veterans and medical research.

Mr. Ryan did not try to hide his disgust with how the 11th-hour deal was struck, saying it was left in his lap from his predecessor, John A. Boehner, and clears the decks for a fruitful new year.

The measure received big bipartisan majorities in both House and Senate.

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.

Last night, Congress passed legislation that permanently extends many tax breaks, which Republicans liked far more than Democrats and probably made scrounging together the votes for the omnibus much easier. Marco Rubio of Florida also came out against the legislation, but was not present for the vote. “Even me. I said, ‘What am I doing?”

There were last-minute fears that the Friday morning House vote would be close after some Democrats hinted they might withhold their support for the spending bill over objections to the provision lifting the oil export ban. The tax extenders bill passed the House on Thursday, 318-109.

“They wanted big oil so much that they gave away the store”, Pelosi told reporters Friday, citing Democratic success in driving away most GOP policy riders from the measure.

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.

He warned that Republicans who supported the measure will get grief from constituents when they go home.

In response to concerns raised partly by recent terrorist attacks, the spending measure requires more vigorous security checks as part of the visa-waiver programme, by which millions of visitors enter the U.S. under an expedited process. Democrats were particularly angry that Republicans excluded aid for debt-ridden Puerto Rico.

The legislation would ratify an International Monetary Fund plan approved in 2010 to increase the voting share of emerging economies and double the amount of permanent funding available to the Washington-based fund. Until now, Republican opposition has prevented the IMF from implementing the changes.

The 65-33 vote effectively wraps up the congressional session for the year, with the House and Senate adjourning for the holiday recess. A tax on medical devices would be suspended for two years, a levy on health insurers would stop for a year and, in a victory for unions, a tax on higher-cost insurance policies would be postponed two years until 2020.

The vote is not “a function of the spending bill but… a courtesy to the new speaker”, said Huelskamp, who voted against the bill. More than 50 expiring tax cuts will be extended, with more than 20 becoming permanent, including credits for companies’ expenditures for research and equipment purchases and reductions for lower-earning families and households with children and college students.