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 The Senate voted 67-33 to limit debate on the measure, exceeding
the required 60 votes and overcoming the opposition of conservative
Republicans who objected to increased near-term government spending.
Twelve Republicans joined 53 Democrats and two independents in
supporting the measure, which aims to minimize the threat of another
government shutdown through October 1, 2015. It won passage in the
House of Representatives by an overwhelming margin last week.
A 16-day partial government shutdown in October left many
Republicans skittish about withholding their support for legislation
to keep agencies operating.
The Senate, where Democrats have a 55-45 majority, is expected to
vote on final passage of the budget measure as early as Wednesday.
Several conservative Republican senators, including Tea Party
supporters Rand Paul and Ted Cruz, tried to stop the measure and
keep automatic "sequester" spending cuts in place. The budget deal
eases some of the sequester cuts by allowing budgets for government
agencies and discretionary programs to rise by $63 billion over two
years in exchange for future savings elsewhere.
But a mix of moderate and conservative Republican senators voted to
proceed to an up-or-down vote on the deal, which was negotiated by
Democratic Senator Patty Murray and Republican Representative Paul
Ryan.
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The margin of victory is expected to be close on the final vote,
however. Senator Lamar Alexander, a Republican from Tennessee who
faces a tough re-election primary challenge, voted "yes" on the
procedural question but said he would ultimately oppose the deal.
"I will vote against the budget agreement because it avoids the
federal government's most urgent need: reducing the growth of
runaway entitlement spending," Alexander said in a statement.
The measure sets spending levels ranging from the military to
national parks at just over $1 trillion for two fiscal years.
Assuming it wins final passage and is signed by President Barack
Obama, Congress must then pass a spending measure that allocates
funds by January 15 when current government spending authority
expires.
(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell and Richard Cowan;
editing
by Chizu Nomiyama and Kenneth Barry)
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