House Passes Spending Bill, But...

...the Senate vows to oppose it, so Oct. 1 shutdown again a possibility
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 23, 2011 7:21 AM CDT
House Passes Spending Bill, But...
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio leaves a TV studio on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011 after a news conference.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Republicans got their ducks in a row late last night, passing a spending measure nearly identical to the one that went down in flames Wednesday. But that might not be enough to prevent a government shutdown, because the Senate is drawing a hard line against the bill, the Washington Post reports. Boehner won conservatives by slicing $100 million from the loan program that benefited Solyndra, and warning that if the bill didn’t pass, he’d be forced to compromise with Democrats.

Like the failed bill, the new version also cuts some funding from an energy efficient car program. Democrats who back the program—which they say creates thousands of auto-related jobs—were outraged, and the Senate immediately vowed to reject the bill because it didn’t provide enough funding for disaster relief efforts. “The House bill is not an honest effort at compromise,” Harry Reid told the New York Times. “They moved even further toward the Tea Party.” But if something doesn’t pass, FEMA will run out of money next week, and the government will shut down Oct. 1. (More John Boehner stories.)

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