Senate Sends $1.1T Spending Bill to Obama

No drama: President gets it in plenty of time before Saturday deadline
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 16, 2014 5:29 PM CST
Senate Sends $1.1T Spending Bill to Obama
Republican lawmakers arrive at the Capitol as the Senate votes to approve a $1.1 trillion spending package.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

This budget stuff isn't so hard after all. Congress has easily passed a $1.1 trillion bill easing the harshest effects of last year's automatic spending cuts. The sweeping 72-26 Senate vote today to fund the government through September sends the bill to the White House for President Obama's signature before a midnight Saturday deadline. The House easily passed the bill yesterday.

The huge bill funds every agency of government, pairing increases for NASA and Army Corps of Engineers construction projects with cuts to the Internal Revenue Service and foreign aid. And much to the Tea Party's dismay, it pays for implementation of Obama's health care law. (Another provision blocks Obama's plan to shift the US drone program from the CIA to the Pentagon.)

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